Department for Transport

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with rail operators on the availability of advance tickets over the Christmas period.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Officials are discussing the issue of ticket availability over the Christmas period with industry together with other seasonal preparedness issues. The department remains engaged with the industry and continues to work closely with rail operators to provide information and ensure the railway is prepared to meet passengers’ needs. We urge passengers to plan their journeys carefully and, where possible, book their tickets ahead, off-peak tickets will be available on the 26th and 27th of December. We will publish a comprehensive plan for those planning to travel between 23 and 27 December. Sir Peter Hendy is undertaking a rigorous assessment of transport operators, to investigate what more can be done for passengers.

Network Rail: Finance

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Spending Review 2020, what revised estimate he has for the (a) total £10.4 billion rail enhancements budget and (b) total £30.9billion operations, maintenance and renewals budget within Network Rail’s Control Period 6.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Network Rail’s operations, maintenance and renewals budgets have not been changed as a result of Spending Review 2020 and workbanks will continue to be based on the five-year regulatory funding settlement for 2019-2024. The Spending Review settlement means that the comparable figure for the enhancements budget over the same period would now be £9.4bn. As part of SR2020 over £2 billion of funding has been confirmed in 2021-22 for rail services and builds on the estimated £12.8 billion of support for transport services that the government has already committed to provide in 2020-21 The Spending Review Settlement includes over £58 billion of investment confirmed for road and rail transport between 2021-22 and 2024-25, delivering some of government’s largest capital portfolios and levelling up across the country. This includes record investment in strategic roads and rail.

King's Cross Station

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the closure of London Kings Cross station from 25 to 30 December on alternative rail services and stations used by passengers who choose to travel over the Christmas period when the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are temporarily lifted.

Chris Heaton-Harris: As people begin to plan journeys, we are closely assessing demand on the network and have already acted to minimise potential disruption. We know this will be a busy period, and so have asked Sir Peter Hendy to rigorously scrutinise the winter preparedness plans of all transport operators to ensure journeys are smooth and safe. We will also consider measures including running longer trains and relaxing rules to allow more types of coaches to run, and will produce a detailed plan focused on tackling disruption shortly, once demand is clearer. Before traveling, passengers should plan their journey very carefully, be prepared that it may take longer, and where possible book in advance. People should always follow the clear guidance to keep passengers and staff safe.

Transport for London: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's negotiations with the Mayor of London for a bail-out for Transport for London (TfL), what assessment he has made of TfL's capacity to deliver major capital projects such as proposals to build over London Underground station car parks.

Rachel Maclean: The Government has agreed a further extraordinary funding and financing package for TfL of up to £1.7bn to ensure the continuation of public transport services in London. As part of this deal, by 11 January 2021 TfL will produce a single, comprehensive management plan with options as to how a trajectory to financial sustainability by 2023 can be achieved, including their contribution to capital projects within London. As transport in London is devolved, it is for the Mayor and TfL to assess the merits of capital projects in which they wish to invest, and their capacity to deliver such projects.

Roads: Safety

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve road safety in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Rachel Maclean: In the United Kingdom, road safety at City and County level is the responsibility of the Local Authority. At a national level, we are well underway with progressing the actions from the 2019 Road Safety Statement, undergoing a review of the Highway Code and in conjunction with the Home Office conducting a review of Roads Policing. These measures will help improve road safety across England, as well as Great Britain. In June 2018 the Department announced £100 million of funding for the Top 50 most dangerous ‘A’ roads in England, to date £65 million of that fund has been allocated. This project works closely with the Local Authorities and the Road Safety Foundation, providing tailored safety interventions specific to each road’s risk. This could be clearer signage, new cycle lanes and pathways, or even full-scale junction redesign.

Travel: Northern Ireland

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) ferries, (b) airlines and (c) other transport links are (i) available and (ii) affordable for people travelling between Northern Ireland and mainland UK over Christmas 2020.

Robert Courts: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department has worked to ensure that the lifeline air and sea routes across the Irish Sea remain open. We recognise the critical importance of maintaining this connectivity during the Christmas period and we will continue to work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive, the other Devolved Administrations and operators to keep services running across the extended travel window for journeys to and from Northern Ireland, from 22 to 28 December.

Motor Vehicles: Disability

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) the provision of fewer parking spaces and (b) other provisions to encourage people to drive less do not adversely affect the (i) independence and (ii) confidence of people with mobility issues.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Active Travel Fund was announced on 9 May and provided £225m of funding for local authorities to enable them to reallocate road space and make changes to road layouts in response to COVID-19. Alongside the funding, the Department published statutory guidance to local authorities under the Traffic Management Act 2004. This provides advice on the changes that Government expects them to make to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians. It is for local authorities to decide what specific measures are appropriate on their roads to achieve this. They are responsible for ensuring that their actions are within the law and are accountable to local people for their decisions and their performance. The updated guidance reiterates what consultation requirements apply, and that the needs of disabled people must be taken into account and that an Equalities Impact Assessment should be carried out for proposed changes. It also makes clear that any changes to Blue Badge parking provision must be carefully considered and that local groups representing disabled people should be consulted. The guidance is available athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reallocating-road-space-in-response-to-covid-19-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities.

Channel Tunnel: Freight

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions officials in his Department have had with their French counterparts on the movement of rail freight through the Channel Tunnel after the EU exit transition period has ended.

Rachel Maclean: The Government has been supporting and continues to support Channel Tunnel operators, including rail freight operators, to put in place robust and effective contingency measures to ensure the continuation of critical services following the end of the Transition Period. The Government continues to engage regularly with France to establish bilateral arrangements to further support the continuation of services through the Channel Tunnel and to provide long-term certainty to operators. These bilateral discussions are progressing well and the Government will continue to press to ensure the necessary arrangements are in place for the end of the Transition Period to support the continuation of services.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2020 to Question 118091 on Railways, what issues have been raised in the most recent senior roundtable meetings by rail trade bodies on their preparedness for the end of the transition period.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Department for Transport (DfT) officials are regularly engaging with key rail stakeholders on a wide range of cross-cutting areas important to the rail industry to ensure they are preparing effectively and appropriately for 1 January 2021. DfT officials are actively encouraging stakeholders to put forward topics for discussion which are relevant to their businesses and members. Issues which have been raised in the most recent meetings with senior stakeholders include the dual challenges of responding to COVID-19 and preparing for the end of the Transition Period; processes for approving rail technical standards; clarification on labour mobility rules and changes to customs and border arrangements for importation of rolling stock.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2020 to Question 118091 on Railways, if he will publish the (a) minutes and (b) list of attendees of the Rail EU Stakeholder Roundtable meeting that took place on 17 November 2020.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Rail EU Stakeholder Roundtable meeting that took place on 17 November 2020 was attended by key members of the UK rail industry such as the Railway Industry Association (RIA), the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), Network Rail, HS1 Ltd, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), the Rail Freight Group (RFG), Logistics UK and Rail Forum Midlands. Formal minutes of stakeholder roundtable meetings are not recorded to facilitate a free and open exchange of views on key issues. However, issues raised by stakeholders are then followed up directly by officials and updates are provided at subsequent meetings.

Railways: Disability

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Network Rail on improving the ability of wheelchair users to communicate with train managers and drivers.

Chris Heaton-Harris: On-board communication between wheelchair users and the train managers and drivers is a matter for train operators not Network Rail. On the overwhelming majority of trains there is space for wheelchair users that includes the ability to communicate with train managers and drivers. Trains that are not fully compliant with accessibility regulations are in the process of being replaced with new trains that will feature communication equipment required under the relevant accessibility regulations.

Felixstowe Port: Standards

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to urgently help resolve the delays at Felixstowe port.

Robert Courts: Officials and I have actively engaged with the Port of Felixstowe, the port sector, and wider freight sectors, to understand the challenge of a global peak in container traffic, and the steps they are taking to address the demand surge impacts in the UK. We will continue to monitor the situation, including convening a meeting of all relevant freight trade associations, to encourage all parties to work collaboratively to take the steps needed to resolve any remaining challenges.

Electric Vehicles: Vehicle Number Plates

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to roll out green licence plates for electric vehicles.

Rachel Maclean: Green number plates for zero emission vehicles are set to be introduced from 8 December 2020. The plates will make it easier for cars to be visually identified as zero emission vehicles, helping local authorities design and put in place new policies, such as zero emission zones, to incentivise people to own and drive them. This follows the conclusion of a government consultation earlier this year on the introduction of green number plates.

Heavy Goods Vehicles: Kent

Laura Farris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that there are adequate washing and toilet facilities at overflow lorry parks in Kent.

Rachel Maclean: The Department for Transport is working with the Kent Resilience Forum to prepare for the end of the transition period. Our plans for the lorry holding areas in Kent at Sevington and Manston include facilities for HGV drivers, including toilet and washing provision. The delivery plans will be carried out in accordance with the latest covid-19 guidance.

Aviation: Repayments

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives from the airline industry on ensuring that passengers who have had their flight cancelled as a result of the covid-19 pandemic have been able to choose between receiving (a) a full refund or (b) the equivalent amount in vouchers.

Robert Courts: The Department for Transport is working closely with the sector, the regulator and consumer groups to help ensure airlines deliver on their commitments. The Government has been clear to the industry that vouchers can be offered only as an alternative to a full cash refund at the consumer’s choice. The airlines must communicate the risks and present both options to passengers clearly and upfront. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) undertook a review of the refund policies of all UK airlines, as well as a number of international airlines that operate flights to and from the UK. The CAA has utilised this review to influence airlines to change their processes and practices in order to improve performance in providing refunds. The CAA’s actions have led to an improved quality of service and performance from most airlines. The CAA continues to work with carriers on the issue of refunds, while recognising the challenges businesses are facing.

Transport for London: Uber Boat

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussion he has had with Greater London Authority on its decision to direct Transport for London to waive central London pier landing fees for Uber Thames Clippers.

Rachel Maclean: The responsibility for transport in London, including passenger boat services on the River Thames, is devolved to the Mayor of London and Transport for London.

Bicycles: Disability

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) introducing subsidies for and (b) increasing the availability of adaptable or non-standard bicycles for people with mobility issues who require adapted models.

Chris Heaton-Harris: It is essential that as wide a range of people as possible have the opportunity to take up cycling, in all its forms. On 28 July the Prime Minister launched ambitious plans to boost cycling and walking which included a £2 billion package of funding for active travel over the next 5 years. The Plan includes a commitment to increasing access to e-cycles (including adapted e-cycles) by setting up a new national e-cycle support programme, to help those who are older, have to travel longer distances, or are less able to take up conventional pedal cycling. On 18 November the Department also announced a £1m E-Cycle Extension fund which will support programmes to increase the use of e-cycles, including adapted e-cycles, within a number of local authority areas over the coming months, as a way of helping to inform decisions on the national programme. These measures are part of a broader approach which includes ensuring that cycle infrastructure should be accessible to everyone. This will help bring non-traditional groups to cycling, including older and disabled people. The Department’s guidance on the Cycle to Work scheme was also revised in 2019 to make clear that more expensive cycles, including adapted cycles, could be supported under the scheme. The Department will keep under review the case for further support for adapted and non-standard bicycles.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2020 to Question 118090 on Railways, what the areas are that have been identified by his Department as impacting on the rail industry and the rail network.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Although there is no rail-specific chapter in the UK-EU negotiations, there are a number of cross-cutting areas which are of interest and will have an impact on the rail industry. This includes, for example, labour mobility arrangements, cross-border trade in services and investment rules, cross-border trade in goods arrangements, rules on subsidies and customs and border arrangements. DfT officials have been working closely with other government departments on these cross-cutting areas to ensure the interests of the rail industry are fully taken into account in the UK-EU negotiations.

Railways: Brexit

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2020 to Question 118090 on Railways, what specific risks his Department has identified that could affect the rail industry and rail network in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government put in place a broad range of rail statutory instruments to provide certainty and clarity to rail operators on the domestic rail regulatory framework in the event of a non-negotiated outcome with the EU. Given there is no rail-specific chapter in the UK-EU negotiations, impacts on the rail sector of a non-negotiated outcome will relate to cross-cutting risks such as, for example, access to skilled workers as a result of changes to labour mobility arrangements, changes to trading arrangements for rail-related goods and services, and supply chain disruption related to changes in customs and border arrangements from 1 January 2021. Department officials have been engaging closely with rail industry stakeholders since the EU Referendum to ensure they are fully prepared for a non-negotiated outcome. Industry stakeholders have developed appropriate contingency arrangements and are now well prepared for the end of the Transition Period.

High Speed Two: Disclosure of Information

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many non-disclosure agreements have been entered into by HS2 Ltd; and if he will list the parties to those agreements.

Andrew Stephenson: Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are used to protect both HS2 Ltd’s information and the information of the other signatory party and are in accordance with typical business practice. These agreements help to avoid placing homes and businesses in unnecessary blight, protect commercially sensitive information of both parties and the personal information of those potentially affected by any proposed changes to the scheme. HS2 Ltd’s Register shows  339 such agreements have been put in place. As this number changes on a frequent basis as the project develops and new agreements are added to the Register we do not intend to publish a list of the parties at the present time.

Department for Education

Schools: Finance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to funding for schools from Parent Teacher Associations, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the amount and (b) the potential merits of meeting the decrease in that funding as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb: Getting all children and young people back into school for the new academic year has been a national priority. To support schools with this, they have continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in the 2020/21 financial year, £4.8 billion in 2021/22 and £7.1 billion in 2022/23, compared to the 2019/20 financial year. On average, schools are attracting 4.2% more per pupil in 2020/21 compared to 2019/20.The Department recognises that many publicly funded schools were not able to secure income from private sources during the period of lockdown, for example letting their facilities, providing wrap around childcare or offering catering services. As schools continued to receive their core funding allocations, regardless of any periods of closure or reduced operation, lost self-generated income was not covered by the exceptional costs fund.

Schools: Coronavirus

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2020 to Question 104751, what estimate he has made of the number of pupils in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) special schools that are not attending schools for reasons relating to the covid-19 outbreak in each (i) region and (ii) local authority area in the latest period for which information is available; and if he will publish that information on a monthly basis.

Nick Gibb: The Department intends to publish regional and local authority level data which includes a breakdown by phase on 15 December. This data will be included as part of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’.The Department is constantly reviewing the content of its publications. Announcements about future content will be made through the official statistics release page: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics.

Schools: Coronavirus

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on allowing schools to use a rota system to remain partially open during the covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb: Schools should not move to rotas. The best place for children to be is in schools, which is why it remains a national priority to keep them open full time and avoid further disruption to education.The Department has published an updated contingency framework which sets out that in the exceptional circumstances in which restrictions were required on schools, to help contain transmission of COVID-19 within a community, rotas would not be implemented. Any implementation remains a decision for central government and would only come as a last resort to control extremely high prevalence of COVID-19 if all other measures had been exhausted.The updated contingency framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-contingency-framework-for-education-and-childcare-settings.

Schools: Coronavirus

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the four tiered approach to school opening will remain in place when the autumn 2020 lockdown restrictions end on 2 December 2020.

Nick Gibb: The four-tiered approach to school opening will not remain in place when the national restrictions end on 2 December 2020. On 27 November 2020, the Department updated the guidance to reflect how schools and nurseries should operate under the new tiers to keep staff and students as safe as possible. We have implemented a simple and clear contingency framework, setting out the decision-making process and nature of restrictions that would be implemented in the exceptional circumstances in which further restrictions on education could be required as a scientific last resort.The Government has made it a national priority that schools and nurseries should continue to operate as normally as possible during the COVID-19 outbreak. This remains the default position for all areas, irrespective of local restriction tiers.Such measures will be implemented in the fewest number of schools and nurseries required, for the shortest time. Given the considerable benefits to children of continued face to face teaching, the threshold for moving to any restrictions will remain exceptionally high.The education contingency framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-contingency-framework-for-education-and-childcare-settings.

Remote Education: Coronavirus

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many dongles and other mifi devices have been procured to support remote education since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many dongles and other mifi devices have been distributed to families to support remote education since the start of the covid-9 outbreak.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many dongles and mifi devices distributed to support remote education are in active use by families.

Nick Gibb: The Department has already provided over 51,000 4G wireless routers, with free data for the rest of the academic year. We continue to provide 4G wireless routers, with free data, where schools face disruption and children need to access remote education.Local authorities, academy trusts and schools are responsible for distributing the 4G wireless routers and are best placed to know which children and young people need access to the internet.In partnership with mobile network operators, we are providing access to free additional mobile data for the academic year, offering families flexibility to access the resources that they need the most.The mobile data uplifts will be in place until the end of the academic year. Schools will be able to request free mobile data uplifts for disadvantaged children up to Year 11 via the Get Help with Technology service, when they experience disruption to face-to-face education or for clinically extremely vulnerable children.

Schools: Coronavirus

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the level of attendance of school staff since September 2020.

Nick Gibb: The Department intends to publish school workforce attendance data from the new year. This data will be included as part of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak’.The frequency of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak’ will be reviewed in the new year.

Schools: Coronavirus

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the results of the fourth covid-19 survey conducted by Parentkind, published 17 November 2020; and if he will increase the frequency of parent consultation on the Government's response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb: The Department works with, and uses information provided from, a wide range of stakeholder organisations, including those that represent the views of parents, to inform its response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes organisations such as Parentkind.The Department is continuing to do all that it can to support schools and to reassure parents that schools are the best place for children to be. We have published guidance for parents, together with online information leaflets, and delivered online live Q&As with parents. Relevant guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-in-the-autumn-term. Further to this, the Department has carried out parent consultation in the form of various pieces of research.

Schools: Coronavirus

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will permit schools to provide remote teaching in the last week of the autumn 2020 term to allow for isolation periods before the start of the Christmas bubble period on 23 December 2020.

Nick Gibb: It continues to be the Department’s aim that all pupils, in all year groups, remain in school full time. Returning to school full time has been vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing. Time out of school is detrimental for children’s cognitive and academic development, particularly for disadvantaged children. This impact can affect both current levels of learning and their future ability to learn.As set out in the Government’s COVID-19 Winter Plan, nurseries, schools and colleges should not change their Christmas holidays or close early this term. Parents should continue to send their children to school during term time. A time limited change to social restrictions over Christmas does not require any children to be taken out of school prematurely. The head teachers and staff of schools have been doing an extraordinary job to remain open, keep schools safe and provide education.Schools have implemented a range of protective measures to minimise the risk of transmission. The risk to children themselves of becoming severely ill from COVID-19 is low and there are negative health impacts of being out of school. Senior clinicians, including the Chief Medical Officers of all four nations, still advise that school is the very best place for children to be, and so they should continue to go to school.Closing schools early would also cause additional disruption and inconvenience to many parents, including key workers such as NHS staff due to the additional childcare arrangements required as a result of this action.If parents have concerns about their child attending school because they believe that they or members of their household may have particular risk factors, they should discuss these with their school.

Education: Rural Areas

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will increase the eligibility threshold for sparsity funding in the national funding formula.

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on small, rural schools of ineligibility for sparsity funding in the national funding formula.

Nick Gibb: The Department recognises the financial challenges that small schools in rural areas can face, and frequently assesses evidence on this. We have increased the amount distributed through the national funding formula’s sparsity factor for the 2021/22 funding year, from £26 million to £42 million. This will help with the provision of extra support to small, remote schools.The Department reviews the national funding formula on an ongoing basis, including the sparsity factor. We have made minimal changes to the design of the formula next year, in light of pressures caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. As such, the thresholds determining which schools attract sparsity funding will be unchanged in the 2021/22 funding year.Increased funding through the sparsity factor next year is a first step toward wider changes in the 2022/23 funding year to further support small, remote schools. The Department plan to consult on exact changes, and the design of the factor in 2022/23, in the New Year.

Alternative Education: Coronavirus

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of students in alternative education provision who are unable to attend school and are required to learn remotely during the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps he is taking to ensure that those students have adequate access to (a) devices and (b) broadband to undertake that learning.

Nick Gibb: Data on students in state-funded alternative education provision who are unable to attend school is available through this link under “Open status and attendance by type of school or college”: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.As part of over £195 million invested to support access to remote education and online social care, over 340,000 laptops and tablets are being made available this term to support disadvantaged children in years 3 to 11 whose face-to-face education may be disrupted. Since September, over 100,000 of these have been delivered to schools (including alternative provision schools).This supplements over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers, which have already been delivered during the summer term.The laptops and tablets are an injection of support to help local authorities, academy trusts and schools to provide access to remote education and online social care.Local authorities, academy trusts and schools are responsible for distributing the laptops and tablets and are best placed to know which children and young people need access to a device.The laptops and tablets are owned by the local authorities, academy trust or school who can lend unused laptops and tablets to children and young people who need them most. Once children who have been self-isolating return to school, schools can choose to reallocate devices if other pupils experience disruption to face-to-face education due to COVID-19.In partnership with mobile network operators, we are also providing access to free additional mobile data for the academic year, offering families flexibility to access the resources that they need the most.

Apprentices: Coronavirus

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help into employment apprentices who have had their graduations delayed due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Gillian Keegan: We are committed to supporting apprentices and employers to safely continue with, and complete, their programmes during the COVID-19 outbreak while maintaining quality.We have worked closely with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and Ofqual to introduce flexibilities to 120 apprenticeships to mitigate the effects of disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak to end-point assessment. It is this assessment which certifies an apprentice has achieved occupational competence and completed the apprenticeship. Flexibilities include remote assessment where practicable, 12-week extensions to the time limit for completion, and relaxation of the order in which elements can be taken, and these have now been extended until March 2021. We continue to review the flexibilities in place to ensure high-quality assessment can continue and to support apprentices to take the next-steps in their careers. Apprentices are employed throughout the duration of their apprenticeship, but we have also made it possible for apprentices made redundant during COVID-19 to continue to take their end-point assessments and have introduced support to help them find a new employer.Provisional figures show that 46,930 apprentices achieved their apprenticeships (frameworks and standards) between March 23 and the end of July this year.

National SEND Reference Group

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish all (a) correspondence and (b) minutes including attendees of meetings between (i) officials and (ii) Ministers from his Department and the National SEND Reference Group since that group formed.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what involvement his Department had with (a) setting the terms of reference and (b) recruiting members of the National SEND Reference Group.

Vicky Ford: The SEND Reference Group is an external body, organised and managed by the National Association for Special Educational Needs (nasen) so that special schools, colleges and alternative provision could report experiences and issues arising from COVID-19 to the department.In establishing the group, nasen invited a range of system leaders intended to represent the breadth and diversity of the specialist sector, including across the regions and settings serving different pupil populations.Minutes of the group’s meetings are available on request from nasen, together with further information on the group at: https://nasen.org.uk/about-nasen/national-send-reference-group.html.

Bullying: Imperial College London

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Office for Students has taken in response to the report by Jane McNeill QC dated 25 August 2020 which found that bullying had taken place under the President and Chief Financial Officer of Imperial College London.

Michelle Donelan: The Office for Students (OfS) is considering the information it has received in relation to this matter, in line with their normal processes. As is standard practice, the OfS cannot comment on individual cases.

School Leaving

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of school leavers have participated in higher education in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each year since 2010.

Michelle Donelan: The attached table shows the number and proportion of students leaving state-funded schools and colleges in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England that went on to sustained higher education in the year after 16 to 18 study (taking A level or other level 3 qualifications) in academic years 2010/11 to 2018/19.It should be noted that from 2017/18, the 16-18 group of leavers contains additional students who took level 3 qualifications, not included in the 16-18 attainment tables. Information on student destinations is published annually at https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/16-18-destination-measures.An activity is considered as being sustained if a student had 6 months of recorded continuous activity in higher education between October and March following the latest 16-18 provider attendance. 120060_table (xlsx, 20.1KB)

Special Educational Needs: Free School Meals

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of children with SEND in England who qualify for free school meals; and what steps his Department is taking to address the specific needs of those people.

Vicky Ford: The department collects and publishes information on the numbers of children with special educational needs (SEN), which covers all types of SEN. We do not collect data on which pupils have a disability. SEN is the main focus of our data collection and dissemination in relation to children and young people, as our policy is to focus efforts on the impact of conditions (some of which are disabilities) on the educational experience of the individual and how barriers to their learning and participation in education can be removed.The number of children with SEN in England who qualify for free school meals (FSM) is provided to the department in the school census. The most recent figures are for January 2020 and can be found in the publication ‘SEN in England January 2020’, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.The continuing provision of FSM to children from households that are out of work or on low incomes is of the utmost importance to the government. FSM are available to families who are in receipt of one or more of the eligible income-related benefits. Further information on the eligibility criteria is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/700139/Free_school_meals_guidance_Apr18.pdf.We are supporting around 1.4 million of the most disadvantaged children through benefits-related FSM, saving families around £400 a year for each child.During the current COVID-19 outbreak, schools should work with their existing suppliers to support eligible pupils who need to be at home due to self-isolation through food parcels should the need arise. Further guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.Building on the significant support given to the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 outbreak, the government has announced a new £170 million Covid Winter Grant Scheme will be run by councils in England. The funding will be ring-fenced, with at least 80% earmarked to support children and families with food and other essential items, and will cover the period to the end of March 2021.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Personal Care Services: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he made of the potential effect of an extension of the autumn 2020 covid-19 lockdown on (a) businesses and (b) jobs in the hair, beauty and wellness services sector.

Paul Scully: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister addressed the nation on Monday 23 November setting out Government’s COVID-19 Winter Plan. The COVID-19 Winter Plan ensures the current national restrictions can be lifted on 2 December. Close Contact Services will be able to open in all tiers.

Research: Students

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he was consulted on the recent decision by UK Research and Innovation not to extend the studentships of doctoral students affected by the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

Amanda Solloway: The Government recognises that the disruption of recent months has impacted the ability of doctoral students to undertake their research projects. This has led to students having to adjust their projects, making decisions around changing their approach, collecting different data, or changing the way they had planned to work with people, labs, archives or facilities. As it is not possible for all students to adjust their projects and training plan in such a way, I announced in April that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funded PhD students in the final year and whose studies have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic would be provided with additional support. Subsequently on the 11th November, UKRI provided a further £19.1 million of funding to support students in earlier years, including disabled students, those with long-term illness, those who are neurodivergent, or those with caring responsibilities. Combined, these two interventions have meant that UKRI has made over £60 million of financial support available to students most impacted by the pandemic. It is estimated that this funding is available for up to 12,000 students. UKRI as the national funding agency for research and innovation, has independence to deliver funding under the direction of BEIS ministers. BEIS and UKRI are continuing to assess the impact of Covid 19 across all the research and innovation they fund.

Conditions of Employment: Disability

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether her Department plans to publish guidance for (a) employers and (b) employees on the rights of disabled workers during the covid-19 outbreak.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to meet with (a) disabled people and (b) disability organisations to co-produce information for employers on the rights of disabled employees during the covid-19 outbreak.

Paul Scully: The Government has published extensive guidance on employment and safer working throughout the Covid-19 outbreak. This can be found on GOV.UK and through the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Further guidance on employment rights and aspects of good practice has been published by other bodies such as ACAS and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Government has also produced guidance around some new situations which have arisen from the Covid-19 outbreak, for example for those identified as clinically extremely vulnerable and on self-isolation. This suite of guidance covers the employment rights of disabled people alongside other groups in the workforce. I have asked BEIS officials to discuss this employment rights guidance with disability groups to ensure the published material continues to meet the needs of disabled workers and their employers. The Government continues to support disabled employees to access assistive technology and other forms of support they need to remain in work, including during the Covid-19 outbreak. Through the Disability Confident scheme, we are engaging employers and providing them with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace. Our new Employer Help site provides advice on recruitment and employment of disabled people, explaining how Disability Confident and Access to Work can help businesses to ensure their practices are fair and inclusive.

Aerospace Industry: Coronavirus

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Government is providing to the aerospace industry to help ensure the survival of jobs and businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.

Nadhim Zahawi: Aerospace companies have been able to access the Government’s extensive Covid-19 business support measures, such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. In addition, the aerospace industry and its aviation customers are being supported with around £9 billion made available through the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, grants for research and development, loan guarantees and support to exporters.

Modern Working Practices Review

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the 53 recommendations of The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, published on 11 July 2017, have been legislated for to date; and what his Department’s policy is on the recommendations of that report that have not been implemented by the Government.

Paul Scully: We have already made significant progress in implementing recommendations arising from the Taylor Review, including legislating for stronger protections for vulnerable agency workers and quadrupling the maximum fine for employers who treat their workers badly. In the Queens’ Speech, we announced that we will bring forward an Employment Bill to deliver on Manifesto Commitments relating to the recommendations of the Review. As Matthew Taylor said, some of the recommendations are complex and it is important that we work with stakeholders to get them right. We remain committed to bringing forward legislation that balances the needs of both employers and worker to make workplaces fairer, provide better support for working families and encourage flexible working.

Energy Supply

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what targets he has set for the local supply of electricity for (a) 2025 and (b) 2030.

Kwasi Kwarteng: With increased electrification of heat and transport, the Government and Ofgem, the independent regulator, continue to work to ensure that the systems and markets that will support this remain flexible, secure, competitive and that they meet the needs of consumers.

Energy: Billing

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the average spend on energy bills by households in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each year since 2010.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Statistics, showing average bills by payment method and meter type, are published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics.Table 2.2.2 provides electricity data for the UK countries and Table 2.2.3 for UK regions.Tabl3 2.3.2 provides gas data for the UK countries and table 2.3.3 for GB regions.Data is not collected at city, town or constituency level.

Fuel Poverty: Coronavirus

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of fuel poverty in those areas.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The table below illustrates a timeseries in the level of fuel poverty for the requested areas:Proportion of households that are fuel poor (%) 201620172018Coventry North East constituency16.115.612.4Coventry15.314.712.1West Midlands13.712.611.4England11.110.910.3 Modelled estimates of fuel poverty at the sub-national level (Coventry North East constituency, Coventry and the West Midlands) should only be used to look at general trends and identify areas of particularly high or low fuel poverty. They should not be used to identify trends over time as they are based on very small numbers. Latest data for Coventry North East constituency, Coventry and the West Midlands can be found in tables 5, 2 and 1 respectively, of the Fuel Poverty Sub-regional tables at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-statisticsData for England can be found in table 1 of the Fuel Poverty detailed tables at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics We have gathered new evidence through MHCLG’s Household Resilience survey about the impact of Covid-19 on incomes, housing costs and households occupancy patterns and will use this to make a projection of fuel poverty in England in our 2021 Annual Report.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the car industry in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Government recognises the challenges facing the automotive industry in the West Midlands and the whole of the UK as a result of coronavirus and has taken unprecedented steps to protect businesses and workers in the automotive sector. The comprehensive Government support to date includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which has now been extended until the end of March, the trade credit insurance guarantee and tax deferrals. In total, we have provided almost £2.5 billion in Covid Corporate Financing Facility support to the automotive sector. The Government has been working closely with key automotive companies and industry stakeholders to understand how we can support the resilience and continued competitiveness of UK automotive manufacturing at this time. Our priority has always been to support people and to protect jobs and businesses through this crisis. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ latest figures show the UK automotive sector is beginning to recover, with UK car production increasing from 200 vehicles in April to 115,000 in September. We are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for the automotive sector and will continue to work closely with the automotive industry to ensure success.

Fireworks Regulations 2004

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Fireworks Regulations 2004 in reducing noise pollution.

Paul Scully: There is already a comprehensive regulatory framework in place for fireworks that aims to reduce the risks to people and disturbance to animals. Existing legislation controls the sale, availability and use of fireworks, as well as setting a curfew and noise limit. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published its Fireworks Evidence Base on 29 October 2020. This included reviewing existing data around fireworks including producing a research paper on fireworks noise levels and impacts on health and the environment. We remain committed to promoting the safe and considerate use of fireworks through the effective legislative framework and through non-legislative measures.

Bereavement Leave: Zero Hours Contracts

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with employers on the adequacy of access to bereavement or compassionate leave for employees on zero-hour contracts.

Paul Scully: The Government recognises that bereavement can be a deeply upsetting experience. We believe that individuals are best placed to understand their own specific needs and we encourage their employers to respond in an appropriate and sensitive way. Recognising that the death of a child is particularly tragic, we introduced Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay in April this year. All employees are also able to take reasonable time off for an emergency involving a dependant. This can be used to deal with some of the practicalities that surround a bereavement, including registering the death, making funeral arrangements and attending the funeral.

Bereavement Leave

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will undertake a review of the adequacy of access to bereavement leave for (a) people who are self-employed and (b) other workers; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Scully: The Government recognises that the death of a close family member, friend, or colleague can be deeply upsetting. We introduced Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay for employed parents in April this year. So far, the Government has focused on supporting employed parents as they do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over the time they take off work and we continue to keep all support for employed and self-employed parents under review.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the number of businesses prevented from accessing the Bounce Back Loan Scheme due to being declined for feeder accounts by banks after a credit check.

Paul Scully: The Department does not hold this information.

Cabinet Office

Amusement Arcades: Coronavirus

Scott Benton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the scientific basis for the Government's decision to close amusement arcades in tier 3 of the covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Penny Mordaunt: The tiered approach of Local COVID Alert Levels that was in effect prior to 5 November was designed to reduce transmission of the virus which is transmitted through close contact. The baseline of the Tier 3: Very High Alert Level which applied until 5 November, did not include closure of amusement arcades. The government worked with local areas to identify other premises that should be closed.The government continues to regularly make available scientific evidence supporting its COVID-19 response, including at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/scientific-evidence-supporting-the-government-response-to-coronavirus-covid-19.

Government Departments: Contracts

John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the National Audit Office report on Government procurement during the covid-19 pandemic, published 18 November 2020, whether all qualifying Government contracts will be published on Contracts Finder within the recommended 90 day time limit; and what estimate he has made of the length of time it will take to clear the backlog of those contracts waiting to be published.

John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the National Audit Office report on Government procurement during the covid-19 pandemic, published 18 November 2020, whether the same standard of due diligence checks was carried out on potential suppliers and contracts in the (a) high priority lane and (b) normal lane.

John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the November 2020 NAO report on Government procurement during the covid-19 outbreak, if he will open the fast track approval process to all potential contracts and suppliers to ensure equal treatment for all.

John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the NAO report into Government procurement during the covid-19 pandemic, if the Government will publish data for all future direct award contracts on how the risks of procuring suppliers without competition have been mitigated; and when the Government plans to publish that information for all existing direct award contracts.

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the the National Audit Office investigation into government procurement during the covid-19 outbreak, what steps the Government is taking to ensure basic information on contracts is published in a timely manner.

Julia Lopez: Being able to procure at speed has been critical in providing the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.We welcome the NAO report which recognises that the government ‘needed to procure with extreme urgency’ and ‘secured unprecedented volumes of essential supplies necessary to protect front-line workers’.All contracts, including those designed to tackle coronavirus issues, must continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, use good commercial judgement and the details of any awards made should be published as soon as possible in line with Government transparency guidelines.Robust processes are in place for the award of government contracts. PPE offers were assessed using the same eight step process, including quality checks, price controls and other due diligence, no matter where the original referral came from. This eight step process has been published in the NAO’s report. For further details please see the statement on gov.uk.We are committed to transparency in public procurement. Details of central government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. We regret that some details have not been uploaded in a timely fashion. All will be published as soon as possible and significant information is already available online.The forthcoming Green Paper on transforming the UK’s public procurement regulations will strengthen our longstanding and essential policies that are fundamental to public procurement including transparency, ensuring value for money and fair treatment of suppliers. As part of this, we will propose legislating to reinforce that contracting authorities would need to publish basic disclosure information, including the basis of award decisions.We have always accepted that there are lessons to be learned from how we responded to this unprecedented global pandemic and the government is fully committed to doing so. We will address the NAO report’s recommendations in due course. As I stated in my answer on 12 November, we are engaged in both internal and external audit to review how our procurements during this period have been conducted.The service to offer coronavirus (COVID-19) support has closed. Information for businesses seeking to offer coronavirus support is available at https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus-support-from-business

Civil Servants: EU Nationals

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of 23 November 2020 to Questions 117283 and 117284, whether the proposed changes to the Nationality Rules referenced will seek to maintain the rights and opportunities of EU citizens as civil servants as they are now; and whether it is the Government's policy to guarantee those protections under potential future changes to the Nationality Rules.

Julia Lopez: As referenced in the Government’s response to questions asked on 23 November, the Government is committed to protecting the rights of resident EU nationals, and their family members, to enable them to live and work here as they do now after the end of the transition period. This includes maintaining the rights and opportunities of those with status under the EU Settlement Scheme to be eligible for employment in non-reserved posts within the Civil Service.

Freedom of Information

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff have undertaken work in the Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Clearing House in each of the last 10 years; and what the annual budget was for the Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Clearing House in that time period.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria are used to determine whether a Freedom of Information Request is sufficiently sensitive to be referred to the Cabinet Office Freedom of Information Clearing House.

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department's policy is on handling the personal details of journalists; and what guidance his Department has published on responding to Freedom of Information requests.

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish all (a) guidance and (b) advice that his Department provides to Government departments on responding to Freedom of Information requests; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: This Government is fully committed to transparency, and ensuring all requests for Freedom of Information (FOI) are handled appropriately. All requests are considered in an applicant-blind manner, regardless of - for example - the occupation of the applicant. The Cabinet Office FOI process complies with relevant protections under the Data Protection Act 2018.Under section 45 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the Cabinet Minister issues a Code of Practice, available on gov.uk, which provides guidance and advice to public authorities on the handling of Freedom of Information Requests. In addition, and in line with practice since 2005, the Cabinet Office provides advice to Departments, to ensure cases are handled consistently, and sensitive material handled appropriately. A Clearing House was established in 2004 and has operated in different forms since the FOI Act came into force in January 2005 as an advice centre to coordinate complex requests across Whitehall. There is now no stand alone Clearing House team, but coordination functions are carried out by a number of staff members who have a range of wider responsibilities. Policy responsibility for Freedom of Information transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Cabinet Office in 2015.

Department of Health and Social Care

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Questions 116658, 116659 and 116660 tabled on 17 November 2020.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Contracts

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 procurement contracts were awarded by his Department retrospectively after work had already been carried out.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Procurement

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 1116638 on Government departments: procurement, what steps he is taking to (a) identify and (b) tackle potential (i) conflicts of interest and (ii) bias in his Department's procurement process.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Smoking

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2020 to Question 97688, how many times enforcement action for non-compliance with the requirements of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 has taken place.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Internet

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Public Health England’s Every Mind Matters webpage and signposting to support will be transferred over to the new National Institute for Health Protection website.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the new National Institute for Health Protection will take on Public Health England’s responsibilities in relation to the Wellbeing for Education Return programme.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Influenza: Vaccinations

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of health and social care workers who have received a winter 2020-21 NHS flu vaccine to date.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Influenza: Vaccinations

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure that frontline health and social care workers in specialist neurological care services are able to access free NHS flu vaccines in winter 2020-21.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Influenza: Vaccinations

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the current shortage of flu vaccines for frontline health and social care workers in non-NHS settings.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Influenza: Vaccinations

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that frontline health and social care workers in non-NHS settings are able to access free NHS flu vaccines in winter 2020-21.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services and Social Services: Coronavirus

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions (a) he or (b) his officials have had with the Prime Minister's Health and Social Care Taskforce.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners: Coventry

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support GP services in Coventry during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Care Homes: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that care homes in Harlow will receive rapid covid-19 tests.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the criteria he will use to determine when an area can be moved to a lower tier of covid-19 restrictions.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Greater London

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to make a separate decision for each London borough when determining which covid-19 tier areas should enter after 2 December 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria he plans to apply to determine which covid-19 tier each local authority area will be included in at the end of the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown arrangements.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 7 September, 7 October and 5 November 2020 regarding his constituent Ms Mavis Guest.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS and Social Services: Pay

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the effect on the pay of (a) NHS and (b) social care staff of the pay proposals in his Spending Review 2020.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health: Children and Young People

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many more children aged 0-2 are accessing specialist children and young people’s mental health provision as at 25 November 2020 than were accessing such services at the time when the NHS Long Term Plan was published in January 2019.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health: Children and Young People

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department collects data on access to specialist children and young people’s mental health provision disaggregated by users’ ages; and what steps he has taken to ensure equality of access for children of different ages.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health: Children and Young People

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to increase access to specialist children and young people’s mental health provision, specifically for children in the first two years of life as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hospitals: Coronavirus

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that measures to limit the transmission of covid-19 in hospitals does not lead to the separation of mothers and babies.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Hospitality Industry

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the spread of (a) droplets and (b) aerosols in hospitality venues that were following covid-secure guidance for Tier 1 before the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's updated interim advice on priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination, published on 25 September 2020, for what reason all people, regardless of age, considered clinically extremely vulnerable are not categorised as a stand-alone group; what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of people who share a home with people who are clinically extremely vulnerable being considered a higher priority group than the general population; and what plans the Government has to decide which health and social care staff should take priority.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: North Yorkshire

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide health facilities for people who experience long-term effects of covid-19 in (a) Thirsk and Malton constituency and (b) North Yorkshire.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Pensions

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential cost of backdating NHS Survivor Pension changes to include people who are unable to enter into new marriages or co-habit with a partner as a result of the pre-2008 NHS Survivor Pension rules.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to commit to achieving 90 per cent HPV vaccination coverage by 2030 as set out in the World Health Organisation’s Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS and Social Services: Protective Clothing

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using anti-viral face masks in the NHS and social care settings.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to identify high risk and vulnerable groups in the community to ensure a quick and effective roll-out of a covid-19 vaccine when one becomes available.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Services: Training

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve training and support for social care staff (a) on infection control and (b) in other areas.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carers: Government Assistance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase support for unpaid carers.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Services: Vacancies

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the workforce shortage in social care in the (a) short and (b) long term.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS and Social Services: Coronavirus

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle workforce burnout across the NHS and social care during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 18 November 2020, Official Report, column 323, if he will set out the evidence both ways on whether people who have tested positive within the last six months have protection from their T cells preventing reinfection for at least six months; and if he will place a copy of that evidence in the Library.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date his Department's Parliamentary Question Performance Recovery Plan was completed; and if he will place a copy of that plan in the Library.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Coronavirus

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it the policy of the Government to reimburse patients who have to incur costs in accessing procedures which are currently unavailable through the NHS as a result of covid-19 restrictions; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of the primary care network in Cheshire to deliver the covid-19 vaccination to (a) priority groups in December 2020 and (b) the broader population in March 2021.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS and Social Services: Coronavirus

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) NHS and (b) social care staff have died from covid-19 since the start of the outbreak.

Helen Whately: The Office for National Statistics publishes mortality data for deaths involving COVID-19 for healthcare workers and social care workers in England and Wales. The latest release showed that in England there were 305 deaths involving COVID-19 among healthcare workers and 307 deaths involving COVID-19 among social care workers registered between 9 March and 12 October 2020 in England, of those aged 20-64 years, using last known occupation. The definition of healthcare workers used will include not only those employed in the National Health Service but wider healthcare sector workers.

Social Services

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 September 2020 to Question 89613 on care home vacancies, when the Adult Social Care Winter Plan will be published.

Helen Whately: ‘Adult social care: coronavirus (COVID-19) winter plan 2020 to 2021’ was published on the 18 September.

Health Professions: Radioisotopes

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adding nuclear medicine technologists to the list of professions registered with the Health and Care Professional Council.

Helen Whately: The Government has no plans to extend statutory regulation to nuclear medicine technologists. Therefore, an assessment of the potential merits of bringing nuclear medicine technologists into statutory regulation has not been undertaken.The statutory regulation of healthcare professionals should only be used where the risks to public and patient protection cannot be addressed in other ways, such as through employer oversight or accredited voluntary registration.

Randox Laboratories: Coronavirus

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the safety issues identified with Randox testing kits will have an effect on the publication date of his care home visitation guidance.

Helen Whately: The recall of Randox test kits during the summer has not had any impact on the publication of Care Home visiting guidance.

Willowbrook Hospice: Finance

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure funding announced for hospices as part of the £750 million funding package for the voluntary and charitable sector announced on 8 April 2020 is disbursed to Willowbrook Hospice in St Helens, Knowsley.

Helen Whately: NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed that Willowbrook Hospice received a total of £610,016 as part of the national funding package to purchase additional capacity from hospices between April and July 2020. This was in addition to any local funding received via clinical commissioning groups for business as usual activity.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many antibody tests have been provided to care homes (a) nationally, (b) in Hampshire and (c) in Portsmouth South constituency.

Helen Whately: As of 24 November this information is not published by the Department.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome: Children in Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders among (a) children currently in care and (b) care experienced children; and whether his Department has undertaken research into the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders amongst children in those two groups.

Jo Churchill: No estimate has been made. There are currently no plans to undertake research into the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) amongst children in care and care experienced children.

Coronavirus: Screening

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when quick turn around covid-19 tests will be available in hospitals to allow patients for cancer treatment and women in labour to have their partner with them.

Helen Whately: Rapid turnaround testing devices have been deployed across National Health Service acute trusts throughout the autumn period.These devices with a quick turnaround time have been made available to emergency departments to support the management of non-elective patient pathways.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of advances in the design and manufacture of rt-CGM systems, providing those with Type 1 diabetes with access to technology and the ability to self-monitor their glucose levels to avoid hyper- and hypoglycaemia in a less intrusive way to monitoring through blood tests.

Jo Churchill: Treatments may be brought into routine use in the National Health Service after their efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness have been appropriately demonstrated. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for assessing new technologies and interventional procedures, as well as producing guidelines for best practice of treatment and care.NICE has produced diagnostics guidance on technologies for managing blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes. These integrated sensor-augmented pump therapy systems combine continuous glucose monitoring with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion.

Health Professions: Registration

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to extend the professional registration of health care staff on the Health and Care Professions Council register beyond the groups currently listed.

Helen Whately: The Government does not have any plans to extend the list of professions that are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council at this time.

Joint Biosecurity Centre

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many consultants have been deployed by Boston Consulting Group at the new Joint Biosecurity Centre; and what the average day rate is for each consultant.

Helen Whately: The Joint Biosecurity Centre does not currently employ any consultants from Boston Consulting Group.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has he made of the implications for his policies of the Scottish Government’s policy to relax visiting restrictions to care homes.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will implement a policy similar to that of the Scottish Government on visits to care homes in England.

Helen Whately: We keep our policies under continuous review, based on the emerging international and domestic evidence. As the pandemic progresses, we will continue to update our guidance in line with this to ensure that best practice is reviewed and can be applied.On 5 November, we published updated visiting guidance for care homes which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visiting-care-homes-during-coronavirus/update-on-policies-for-visiting-arrangements-in-care-homesWe are working to further update guidance as we come out of the current period of national restrictions. We want to bring an end to the pain of separation and help care homes bring families and loved ones together. The launch of visitor testing is a crucial step to making that happen. We aim to rollout visitor testing nationwide by Christmas.

Health Professions: Training

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will publish details of the NHS Learning Support Fund’s regional incentive allowance for students starting their course in September 2020.

Helen Whately: The criteria for the regional incentive allowance remain under consideration and the Department is unable to publish further details at this stage.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what methodology his Department is using to collate data on sex, race/ethnicity and socio-economic background with regard to people (a) testing positive for covid-19 and (b) dying from covid-19.

Helen Whately: Demographic data is collected for age, gender and ethnicity, but currently only age and gender is available weekly. For pillar 1, data is collected by the hospital, and is then enriched using patient records. For pillar 2, this data is collected when people register for a test and is voluntary, which means that people have the option not to provide their information. We do not currently report on socio-economic background.Weekly age, sex and ethnicity data for both cases and deaths in England are available weekly in the national flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports, which are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reportsBreakdown of cases by index of multiple deprivations, as a recognised surrogate for socioeconomic class, is also available in the same report.

Industrial Health and Safety: Coronavirus

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the safety of clinically vulnerable people with (a) diabetes and (b) other long term illnesses in the workplace during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: The guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19 has been developed by expert doctors identifying specific medical conditions based on what we know about the virus so far. The clinical evidence does not currently support classing people with diabetes as extremely clinically vulnerable, although they are on the wider clinically vulnerable list and should be strictly following social distancing measures. We will continue to keep this evidence under review.Following the introduction of new national restrictions on 5 November everyone should work from home if they are able to do so effectively. If unable to work from home, people with diabetes should continue to go to work as their employer has a responsibility to make the workplace a COVID-secure environment.Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak a range of guidance has been made available for people with long-term illnesses, such as guidelines available from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England and NHS Improvement.NHS Digital has published a shielded patient list which is enabling partner organisations across government to support and protect those who need shielding at this time.People suffering with long-term illnesses should consult this guidance alongside condition specific guidance, made available by Public Health England, to check if their illness places them at particularly high risk in the workplace. If people do not fall into any of these categories, but are still concerned, they should discuss these concerns with their general practitioner or hospital clinician.

Maternal Mortality: Abortion

Sir Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what changes in data collection requirements have been made for recording complications and maternal deaths for early medical abortions since 30 March 2020.

Helen Whately: No changes in data collection requirements have been made for recording complications and maternal deaths for early medical abortions since 30 March 2020.

5G: Health Hazards

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to (a) publish a plan for the functioning of competent authorities to reconcile the public health and environmental effects of 5G technologies and (b) consult on that plan before the European Electronic Communications Code 2018 is transposed into UK law.

Jo Churchill: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has led on this work in the context of the European Electronic Communications Code Directive. The Directive was finalised and published in December 2018 after negotiations and is required to be transposed into domestic legislation by 21 December 2020. A public consultation was launched in July 2019, closing in September 2019 with a Government response published in July 2020. The draft transposition statutory instrument was laid in Parliament via the affirmative procedure on 12 October and passed by Parliament on 10 November. No further body was required to be created or designated as a competent authority as part of transposition as Ofcom acts as the telecommunications regulator in the UK.

Healthy Start Scheme

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to encourage wider uptake of Healthy Start Vouchers among eligible groups.

Jo Churchill: The Department is currently developing a digital approach to Healthy Start, to make it easier for families to apply for and use the scheme. We are developing and testing an online application form for Healthy Start, to replace the current paper form, and a payment card to replace paper vouchers.All eligible beneficiaries receive a letter inviting them to apply for Healthy Start, together with a pre-populated application form. The scheme is also promoted through the Healthy Start and Start4Life websites.

School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to include all primary school age children in the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme.

Jo Churchill: The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme resumed in September when children returned to school. As before, all children in Key Stage 1 in state-funded primary schools receive a free piece of fruit or vegetable every school day. There are currently no plans to extend this scheme to all primary school pupils.

Protective Clothing: Coronavirus

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure the adequacy of supplies of personal protective equipment in the NHS during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: ‘Personal protective equipment (PPE) strategy: stabilise and build resilience’, published on 28 September sets out how the Government has moved beyond the emergency COVID-19 response by stabilising the supply for PPE and building resilience in the supply chain. It also includes details about how Government is preparing for and managing the ongoing response to the pandemic alongside the usual seasonal pressures. The strategy is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-protective-equipment-ppe-strategy-stabilise-and-build-resilienceWe are confident we have secured enough supply for this winter period and that we have the processes and logistics in place to distribute PPE to where it is needed. We have around 32 billion PPE items on order and this month we will have a four-month stockpile of all COVID-19 critical PPE in place, with a tremendous contribution from United Kingdom manufacturers.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of public information campaigns on the process for obtaining a covid-19 isolation note via NHS 111's online form.

Jo Churchill: Public information and guidance about the isolation note service has been published on NHS.UK and GOV.UK websites as part of the wider Government guidance for COVID-19. The guidance for the isolation note service has been regularly reviewed to ensure that it is in line with the Government’s public health advice during the pandemic. Data is collected on the number of times an isolation note is issued. By 23 November, over two million isolation notes had been issued by the service.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward proposals to help people without internet access or technological literacy to access a covid-19 isolation note.

Jo Churchill: People who do not have internet access or who need support to access the isolation note service can ask family, friends or a trusted third party to obtain an isolation note on their behalf. The service includes the ability to send a copy of the note directly to their employer.

Department of Health and Social Care: Early Day Motions

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a response to EDM 521 on UK law on disability-selective abortion tabled by the hon. Member for Upper Bann.

Helen Whately: Parliament decided the circumstances under which abortion can legally be undertaken. It would be for Parliament to decide whether to make any changes to the law on abortion. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows hon. Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to provide a substantive Answer to Question 92755 on Coronavirus: Laboratories, tabled on 21 September 2020 by the hon. Member for Edinburgh South.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 92754 on Coronavirus Laboratories tabled by the hon. Member for Edinburgh South on 21 September 2020.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The hon. Member’s questions will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will answer Question 77729 on Dementia: Coronavirus tabled on 21 July 2020.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The hon. Member’s question will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Question 89666, on Coronavirus: Bolton, tabled on 14 September 2020 by the hon. Member for Bolton South East.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question 89666 of 12 November.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer named day Questions 94510 and 94511 tabled on 23 September 2020 by the hon. Member for Tooting.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question 94511 on 11 November.The hon. Member’s remaining question will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to Answer named day Questions 92946, 99788, 99789, 99790, 99791, 103663 and 103664 asked by the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Questions 99788, 99789, 99790, 99791.The hon. Member’s remaining questions will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 99000, tabled on 4 October 2020.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 100432, tabled on 7 October 2020.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The hon. Member’s questions will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Question 97685 on Contact Tracing: Computer Software, tabled on 30 September 2020 by the hon. Member for Bath.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Question 97686 on Contact Tracing: Computer Software, tabled on 30 September 2020 by the hon. Member for Bath.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Questions 97685 and 97686 of 9 and 10 November respectively.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish a substantive Answer to Named Day Question 83653 on Domiciliary Care Companies and the Infection Control Grant Scheme, tabled by the hon. Member for New Forest East on 1 September 2020 and due for Answer on 7 September 2020.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The Rt hon. Member’s question will be answered as soon as possible.

Department for Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to provide an Answer to Question 88395 tabled by the hon. Member for City of Durham on 10 September 2020.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question 88395 of 23 November.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Mr Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons he has not yet answered Question 81646, tabled on 28 August 2020; and when he plans to respond to that Question.

Edward Argar: I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer to Question 81646 on 3 November.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 104712 tabled by the hon Member for Brighton, Pavilion on 16 October 2020 on Boston Consulting Group: Contracts.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The hon. Member’s question will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Questions (a) 100997, (b) 100996, (c) 100995, and (d) 100994 tabled by the hon. Member for Walthamstow on 8 October 2020.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Questions 100997, 100996, 100995 and 100994.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 97448, tabled on 30 September 2020.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The hon. Member’s question will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Questions 100386, 100385 and 100384, tabled on 7 October 2020 and Questions 96885, 96884, 96883, 96882 tabled on 29 September 2020 by the hon. Member for Walthamstow.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The hon. Member’s questions will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will plans to respond to Question 66018, tabled on 29 June 2020 by the hon. Member for Easington.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will answer Question 89678.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Questions 66018 and 89678 of 9 and 10 November respectively.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 99590 tabled by the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell on 6 October 2020.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The hon. Member’s question will be answered as soon as possible.

Department for Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Paul Holmes: (FAO Amelia) To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to Answer Question 97046, tabled by the hon Member for Eastleigh on 29 September 2020.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.The hon. Member’s question will be answered as soon as possible.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Questions 95023, 95024, 95025 and 95029, tabled on 24 September 2020, and Question 97479, tabled on 30 September 2020 by the hon. Member for Hammersmith.

Edward Argar: We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Questions 95025 and 95029 of 10 November.The hon. Member’s remaining questions will be answered as soon as possible.

In Vitro Fertilisation: Coronavirus

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to prevent fertility patients becoming ineligible for NHS-funded IVF as a result of delays resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.

Helen Whately: The Government expects clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to give fair consideration to all patients who have had fertility treatment delayed so that no one misses out on treatment due to COVID-19.NHS England have agreed a joint statement with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, to encourage CCGs to give special consideration to the need for flexibility and sensitivity for individuals whose waiting times, investigations or planned treatment have been disrupted due to COVID-19. This is to ensure that all women and their partners seeking fertility treatment are treated fairly. The statement was issued to the National Health Service on 6 November 2020.

Pneumococcal Diseases: Vaccination

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the availability of the pneumoccal vaccine in (a) Ellesmere Port and Neston and (b) England.

Jo Churchill: There are two pneumococcal vaccines that are currently recommended for use, pneumococcal polysaccharide 23-valent vaccine (PPV23) and pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate 13-valent vaccine PCV13 (Prevenar 13).We are aware that, due to high demand, supplies of pneumococcal vaccine PPV23 (Pneumovax 23) are limited across the country. We are working closely with suppliers and the healthcare system to ensure that patients with the greatest clinical need can access the vaccine. We are continuing to liaise with the supplier to support expedited future deliveries. Public Health England has issued comprehensive clinical guidance which provides information on management of potentially affected patients during this time. Practitioners have been advised to prioritise PPV23 vaccinations based on clinical risk and to plan vaccinations to ensure demand is more consistent across the year. Further, on 6 November 2019, all pneumococcal vaccines were added to the list of medicines that cannot be parallel exported, further protecting United Kingdom supplies and vaccine availability.We are not aware of any issue affecting the supply PCV13.

Health: Coronavirus

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to assess the effect of covid-19 on patients living with (a) obesity and (b) other long term health conditions; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: There is consistent evidence that people who are overweight or living with obesity who contract COVID-19 are more likely to be admitted to hospital, admitted to an intensive care unit and to die from COVID-19 compared to those of a healthy body weight status. We published ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July. Our strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service. There has been no specific assessment of COVID-19 and long-term conditions. Many organisations have produced advice for people to manage their condition during the pandemic, and NHS England and NHS Improvement have supported efforts in this area.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of (a) how many health care professionals will be needed to administer a covid-19 vaccine to the population of England and (b) how long that process would take.

Jo Churchill: The Government has asked the National Health Service to be ready to deploy any safe and effective vaccines when available. ?The NHS is preparing to recruit staff to be trained as COVID-19 vaccinators in support of the national effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. We are working with experienced NHS partners to prepare for when a vaccine becomes available to enable the NHS to vaccinate as many people as possible.Amendments to the Human Medicine Regulations allow a wider range of trained personnel to administer COVID-19 or flu vaccines. Recruitment is focused on those who already have experience in handling vaccinations but may currently work outside of NHS settings, for example, independent nurses or allied health care professionals. There may also be use of existing schemes such as NHS Bring Back scheme to fill roles.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 September 2020 to Question 86107 on Coronavirus: Disease Control, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the spike in covid-19 infection rates of people (a) under 30 years old and (b) under 25 years old in (i) York and (ii) the UK.

Helen Whately: Further recent national increases in case numbers reported among under 30 year olds are reflected in the pattern of cases seen in York.There has been a particular increase in both incidence and test positivity in 17-21 year olds across the country which is not seen in younger age groups.The sharp increase in the number of cases over the past few weeks particularly affecting young age groups may be accounted for in student areas and wider community transmission.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Mr Marcus Fysh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 vaccine candidates for which the Government has provided funding, what the efficacy criteria are for each of those vaccine candidate trials; to what extent each of those efficacy criteria are required to be met in order that those vaccine candidate trials can be deemed by the Government to have achieved satisfactory outcomes; and by (a) what methods and (b) what number of people (i) in which locations and (ii) over what time periods those assessments on whether those safety criteria have been met are being made.

Mr Marcus Fysh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 vaccine candidates for which the Government has provided funding, what the safety criteria are for each of those vaccine candidate trials; to what extent each of those safety criteria are required to be met in order that those vaccine candidate trials can be deemed by the Government to have achieved satisfactory outcomes; and by (a) what methods and (b) what number of people (i) in which locations and (ii) over what time periods those assessments on whether those safety criteria have been met are being made.

Jo Churchill: There is broad agreement between international regulators on both the safety and the efficacy criteria that would be required for approval and authorisation of a COVID-19 vaccine. These criteria will apply to all COVID-19 vaccine candidates, irrespective of whether they receive funding from the United Kingdom Government.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will perform the assessment of the quality, safety and efficacy data submitted by developers of COVID-19 vaccines and will seek the advice of its independent expert advisors on the Commission on Human Medicines.No approval will be given for any COVID-19 vaccine without robust evidence of efficacy and safety. The MHRA has teams of assessors available to review the submissions.To expedite the review of COVID-19 vaccine applications, developers of COVID-19 vaccines can submit their Marketing Authorisation Applications in the form of a rolling submissions and do not need to wait to have a complete data package before submission.The time taken for MHRA’s review will depend on what data will be submitted and when.

Health Professions: Coronavirus

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the cessation of the exclusion of healthcare workers from the list of jobs that qualify for travel exemptions to Coronavirus travel restrictions.

Helen Whately: The Government reviews all quarantine exemptions at least once every 28 days. This is to ensure exemptions align to the latest evidence and public health advice. The decision that health and care workers should not be granted an exemption is also reviewed every 28 days.

Foetuses

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the current Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists guidelines Fetal Awareness Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice, published in 2010, are updated to reflect current research.

Helen Whately: The Department does not set clinical practice. It is for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to consider whether to revise their guidelines, having looked at the available evidence.

Radiotherapy

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the latest Public Health England Radiotherapy Dataset; and whether he plans to publish that dataset.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement and Public Health England are jointly developing a Radiotherapy Data Set (RTDS) Partnership which will be a multi-year agreement to use and enhance the RTDS so that it supports both radiotherapy networks and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve services and quality. The partnership has a number of workstreams including improving data reporting; developing data to support reductions in variations in access and support clinical care excellence; and developing the knowledge base on outcomes relating to innovative and specialist radiotherapy treatments.A variety of aggregated data and analyses of the RTDS are available at the following link:https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/radiotherapy

Abortion: Congenital Abnormalities

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to review the 2010 guidelines on the Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality in England, Scotland and Wales from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists with respect to advancements in antenatal screening since those guidelines were published.

Helen Whately: The Department does not set clinical practice. It is for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to consider whether to revise their guidelines, having looked at the available evidence.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the take-up rate was for breast cancer screening in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Jo Churchill: NHS Digital publishes information about the coverage of breast screening. Breast screening coverage for the last five year period for Coventry, West Midlands and England is shown in the following table: 31 March 2014 (%)31 March 2015 (%)31 March 2016 (%)31 March 2017 (%)31 March 2018 (%)31 March 2019 (%)Coventry71.971.772.270.770.169.9West Midlands76.576.075.875.274.374.2England75.975.475.575.474.974.6Source: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/breast-screening-programme/england---2018-19Notes:Coverage is the proportion of women eligible for screening who have had a test with a recorded result at least once in the previous 36 months. This is reported as a percentage.

Hearing: Screening

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time for an initial appointment with the NHS's adult hearing screening service was in the last six months for which data is available.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally.

Wales Office

Asylum: Penally

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the proposed use of the Penally training camp in Pembrokeshire as a temporary accommodation site for asylum seekers prior to 12 September 2020; and what subsequent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary.

Simon Hart: I had no discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department regarding the use of Penally training camp as accommodation for asylum seekers prior to 12 September. I first spoke to the Secretary of State for the Home Department about this matter on 13 September and have had numerous discussions with Home Department Ministers and officials since.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Construction

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how the drop off rate between permissions and completions will be calculated in the new standard method for assessing local housing need as part of the Government's proposed changes to the current planning system.

Christopher Pincher: We committed to reviewing the current formula for local housing need at this year’s budget and the proposals were out for consultation from 6 August until 1 October 2020.Not all homes that are planned for are built, and the consultation noted that there is a drop off rate between permissions and completions. As part of the Planning for the Future consultation, we confirmed we will explore further options to support faster build out, as we develop our proposals for the new planning system.Following consideration of the consultation responses received, the Government will publish a response. The response will set out any decisions and any associated proposed implementation.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to provide funding for remedial work to buildings which do not comply with fire safety regulations but do not have problems relating to cladding.

Christopher Pincher: Building owners or other responsible entities managing blocks of flats are responsible for the safety of their buildings. We have made £1.6 billion available to support the remediation of unsafe cladding on buildings of 18 meters and above. This?reflects the exceptional fire risk that certain cladding products pose at that height, as noted?by?Dame Judith?Hackitt in her independent report.That funding does not absolve industry from responsibility and taking action. We expect developers, investors and building owners to cover remediation costs themselves, meeting their legal and contractual obligations, recovering costs or drawing on warranties where applicable, without passing on costs to leaseholders.This Government is determined to identify suitable financing solutions, remove barriers to remediation, and protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs. The Government has asked Michael Wade to accelerate work with the financial sector to identify affordable solutions, and we will be updating the House.

Building Safety Fund

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to make decisions on the applications to the Building Safety Fund.

Christopher Pincher: The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund. We published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics and will be publishing and update.

Housing: Fire Prevention

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on identifying solutions to support leaseholders with (a) the incidental costs of waking watches and (b) other incidental costs with the exception of remediation incurred as a result of dangerous cladding having been installed on their leasehold properties.

Christopher Pincher: The most effective way to make buildings with unsafe cladding safe and eliminate the need for interim measures and associated costs is to have the unsafe cladding removed as quickly as possible. That is why we are prioritising £1.6 billion public subsidy on remediation of unsafe cladding. However, we recognise residents’ concerns about the cost of waking watch measures and the lack of transparency of these costs. That is why we have collected and published information on waking watch costs. This will enable those that have commissioned it to make comparisons and challenge providers on unreasonable costs. The data is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-waking-watch-costs.The Government also welcomes the National Fire Chiefs Council's update to its guidance on Simultaneous Evacuation published in October (available at: www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Simultaneous-evacuation-guidance). We have asked the Fire Protection Board to advise Fire and Rescue Services on how best to operationalise the revised guidance including looking into other measures such as installing building-wide fire alarm systems to reduce the dependency on waking watches wherever possible.

Housing: Insulation

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a funding mechanism whereby the Government (a) covers the up front cost of all urgent remediation works for dangerous cladding and (b) subsequently recovers the cost of that work over a period of time from those responsible for installing the cladding.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is making £1.6 billion available to support the remediation of unsafe cladding but this does not absolve building owners of their responsibility to ensure their buildings are safe. The remediation of over 50 per cent of privately owned high-rise residential buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding will be paid for by building owners and developers, or through warranty or insurance claims - without passing the cost to residents and leaseholders. We expect building owners and developers to step up in a similar way for other kinds of unsafe cladding.The Government has asked Michael Wade to accelerate work with leaseholders and the financial sector to develop proposals to protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs of remediating historic defects. The Government is determined to remove barriers to fixing historic defects and identify financing solutions that protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs; but we must also ensure that the bill does not fall on taxpayer. It?is likely?our solution will?be a combination of options as there is no one quick fix.?We will update leaseholders as soon as we can, and before the Building Safety Bill returns to Parliament.For both the Private Sector ACM Fund and the Building Safety Fund applicants are required to demonstrate that they have taken all reasonable steps to recover the costs of replacing the unsafe cladding from those responsible through insurance claims, warranties and/or legal action. Where they are able to successfully recover damages relating to the removal and replacement of unsafe non-ACM cladding, Government will require building owners to repay any amounts recovered which relate to the removal and replacement of the unsafe cladding up to the amount provided through the funding.

Housing: Coventry

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many new home builds have been (a) started and (b) completed in (i) Coventry North East constituency and (ii) Coventry in each year since 2010.

Christopher Pincher: Estimates of building control reported new build dwelling starts and completions for Coventry in each year to March 2020 are shown in Live Table 253 at the following link.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-buildingThese estimates cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. The Department also publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supplyData by parliamentary constituency are not centrally collected or held by the Department. Coventry Council are best placed to advise on local new build data collection in Coventry.

Smoke Alarms

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of households did not have functioning smoke alarms in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

Christopher Pincher: Each year MHCLG publishes data on the number and proportion of households in England with a working smoke alarm. Data up to and including 2018-19 are available in Annex Table 2.16 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/859758/2018-19_Section_2_Housing_Stock_Annex_Tables.xlsx   The English Housing Survey also collects data on the prevalence of working smoke alarms in the West Midlands, see below for each of the last five years:Households in the West Midlands with at least one working smoke alarm   2014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19percentage of homes with working smoke alarm West Midlands87.991.789.488.689.8number of homes with working smoke alarm West Midlands (000s)2,0412,1482,1372,1252,199 The Department does not collect data on the number and proportion of households in Coventry North East constituency or Coventry with or without working smoke alarms.

Derelict Land

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals in the Planning for the Future White Paper, published in August 2020 on prioritisation of brownfield over (a) greenfield and (b) agricultural land.

Christopher Pincher: The Government continues to prioritise brownfield redevelopment. The reforms put forward in our White Paper Planning for the Future made clear that local authorities need to give preference to the re-use of suitable brownfield and under-used land wherever possible, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. Brownfield redevelopment is being boosted by funding such as the £4.5 billion Home Building Fund, the £4.1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund, and the £400 million Brownfield Fund.We recognise the importance of greenfield and agricultural land. The Framework makes clear that local authorities should recognise the character and beauty of the countryside and the benefits from natural capital and ecosystem services, including woodland and our best and most versatile farmland.The White Paper consultation closed on 29 October 2020 and we are currently considering the responses received. The Government will publish a response which will set out any decisions and associated proposed implementation.

Buildings: Insulation

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the proportion of buildings which do not have cladding material as part of the building’s external wall system, by region.

Christopher Pincher: Data estimating the proportion of high-rise residential buildings in England with little or no cladding can be found in this release: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-estimates-of-ews1-requirements-on-residential-buildings-in-england/building-safety-programme-estimates-of-ews1-requirements-on-residential-buildings-in-england.Regional analysis is not available. In time, we will publish appropriate summary information from the External Wall Systems data collection in our monthly Building Safety Programme data release.

Building Safety Fund

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the details of the applicants that have successfully met the criteria of the Building Safety Fund.

Christopher Pincher: The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund. We published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics and will be publishing an update.

Housing: Insulation

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including interim waking watch funding support in a revised Building Safety Fund.

Christopher Pincher: The most effective way to make buildings with unsafe cladding safe and eliminate the need for interim measures and associated costs is to have the unsafe cladding removed as quickly as possible. That is why we are prioritising £1.6 billion public subsidy on remediation of unsafe cladding. However, we recognise residents’ concerns about the cost of waking watch measures and the lack of transparency of these costs. That is why we have collected and published information on waking watch costs. This will enable those that have commissioned it to make comparisons and challenge providers on unreasonable costs. The data is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-waking-watch-costs.

Towns Fund

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what awards have been made from the Towns Fund; to which projects those awards have been made; and what the value is of each such grant awarded.

Luke Hall: On 27 October, we announced the first seven offers of Town Deals, worth almost £180 million in total, for Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool, Darlington, Norwich, Peterborough, Torquay and Warrington. These landmark deals will see millions invested in projects across the country including updating Blackpool’s famous Illuminations for a return to tourism, the modernisation of Torquay town centre and plans for low carbon-living in Peterborough.In September, we announced accelerated funding for all 101 towns selected to work with Government to develop a Town Deal. This was to support capital projects that would help them address the immediate impacts of Covid-19. Each town received a grant of £500,000, £750,000 or £1 million, depending on population size. This funding is supporting a range of projects including new green spaces, pop-up business spaces and walking and cycling routes. Further details of the accelerated funding are also here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/80-million-boost-to-towns.Further announcements will be made in due course.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Coronavirus

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the announcement on 6 November 2020 on new restrictions on the adult prison estate and ending social visits, whether his Department plans to renew its previous commitment to the early release of pregnant women; and whether that scheme will be extended to eligible mothers of children under the age of two who are unable to benefit from virtual visits during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Lucy Frazer: In April we introduced the End of Custody Temporary Release (ECTR) scheme. It allowed for the early release of stringently assessed low-risk prisoners who were within two months of their release date. It freed up space across the estate so that all prisons could effectively control the spread of the virus by quarantining new arrivals, isolating those with symptoms and shielding vulnerable offenders. This was based on advice from Public Health England and was necessary to protect life and avoid thousands of prisoners becoming infected, overwhelming local NHS services.The ECTR scheme was paused in August, as it was no longer a necessary part of our overall response. Throughout the pandemic our response has been based on public health advice, and this decision will be kept under constant review over the coming weeks and months.Separately from the ECTR process, some prisoners may meet the criteria for potential compassionate temporary release including pregnant women, prisoners with their babies in custody (in Mother and Baby Units), and those defined by the NHS guidelines as ‘medically extremely vulnerable’ to Covid-19. These types of prisoner continue to be considered for Compassionate ROTL based on a case-by-case assessment of whether it would be safe to do so and we will not release any woman without ensuring she has access to appropriate, safe accommodation, necessary support services in the community and an agreed health care pathway in place.Prison Governors are working with Family Services, Through the Gate teams, and those Third Sector organisations that currently work within their prisons, to provide the many practical items that women will need, including those who are pregnant or who are leaving custody with their baby.

Brixton Prison

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to close down HMP Brixton.

Lucy Frazer: No prison closures (male or female) are currently planned beyond those already announced.The prison estate is kept under careful review to ensure there is always sufficient capacity, and we have committed over £4 billion capital funding to make significant progress in delivering 18,000 additional prison places across England and Wales by the mid-2020s.

Courts: Coronavirus

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November to Question 114858 on Courts: Coronavirus, how many cases of covid-19 have been confirmed among the (a) staff, (b) judiciary and (c) users of each court since 12 November.

Chris Philp: Since 18 August we have recorded all confirmed positive incidents of COVID-19 affecting HMCTS buildings centrally. We take swift and robust action for each suspected or positive case. There should be no assumption that a positive case indicates that there has transmission within a court or tribunal building. 98% of our 341 buildings are open and operational. HMCTS employs around 19,300 staff and there are around 19,400 judicial office holders. Since the 12 November to 24 November confirmed positive COVID-19 cases reported to HMCTS are as follows:Across the courts:A) HMCTS staff – 51B) Judiciary – 7C) Court users – 29 The following table provides a more detailed breakdown of the specific HMCTS locations and numbers.Table to show breakdown of positive COVID-19 cases identified at court locations for staff, judiciary, and court users since 12 November to 24 NovemberCourt locationStaffJudiciaryCourt usersBarkingside Magistrates’ Court010Barrow Law Courts001Birmingham Crown Court001Bradford Combined200Brighton Magistrates’ Court001Bury St Edmunds - South East & London Divorce100Coventry Magistrates’ Court010Derby Combined001Ealing Magistrates Court001Gateshead Law Courts200Gloucester Crown Court001Grimsby Magistrates Court100Hastings Law Courts100High Wycombe Magistrates100Highbury Corner Magistrates’002Hull Combined Court Centre010Leeds, Ailsa House100Leicester CFT100Leicester Crown Court200Leicester Magistrates’ Court100Lincoln County Court002Liverpool - Queen Elizabeth 2 Law Courts001Llanelli Law Courts110London Central Criminal Court001London Central Family Court200Loughborough Magistrates’ Court600Luton Crown Court001Maidstone Combined Court001Manchester Crown Square100Medway County Court100Midlands Finance Unit Rugeley300Milton Keynes CFC100North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court001Norwich Magistrates’ Court100Nottingham County Court001Nottingham Crown Court100Peterborough Magistrates’ Court001Plymouth Combined Court100Port Talbot Justice Centre100Preston Combined Court010Preston Magistrates Court001RCJ400Salford CCMC200Scarborough Justice Centre100Sheffield Magistrates’ Court010South Tyneside Law Courts002Southend Magistrates’ Court100Staines Combined Court200Stoke CTSC Bennett House300Tameside Magistrates' Court110Uxbridge County Court200Warwickshire Justice Centre100Wigan and Leigh Courthouse100Wolverhampton Combined Court007Wood Green Crown Court002Wrexham Magistrates’ Court100TOTALS51729 All data is internal and not subject to the same level of checks as official published statistics. Although care has been taken when processing and analysing this, the details may be subject to revisions inherent in any large-scale manual system.

Juries: Coronavirus

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2020 to Question 114860 on Juries: Coronavirus, how many cases of covid-19 have been confirmed among jurors since 12 November by court.

Chris Philp: Since Friday 12 November until Tuesday 24 November there have been 6 confirmed positive test results for Covid-19 reported among jurors in 5 locations across HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s estate. During this period the Jury Central Summoning Bureau transferred approximately 8,4001 people to the courts for jury service. There are currently jury trials running in 79 Crown Courts, 5 Nightingale Courts and 4 other existing court locations. Table – Number of confirmed Covid-19 among jurors by court.Cambridge Crown Court1Isleworth Crown Court1London Central Criminal Court1Maidstone Combined Court2Newcastle Combined Court1Total6We take swift and robust action for each suspected or positive case. There should be no assumption that a confirmed case indicates that there has transmission within a court building and not all confirmed cases relate to the same empanelled jury.Before restarting jury trials all courts have completed a Jury Trial checklist in addition to the risk assessments we have completed in all open courts and tribunals. Public Health England have reviewed our arrangements and they have confirmed that our standards meet their guidance.All data is internal and not subject to the same level of checks as official published statistics. Although care has been taken when processing and analysing this, the details may be subject to revisions inherent in any large-scale manual system.1 This includes jurors who may be excused, deferred or released by the court before serving, and that random selection means that not all jurors get on a trial.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Small Businesses

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to ensure small and micro businesses can continue to trade seamlessly with countries outside of the EU from 1 January 2021.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: HM Government has now signed, or agreed in principle, trade agreements with 53 countries – accounting for £164 billion of the United Kingdom’s bilateral trade in 2019. We are working to make further progress before the end of the Transition Period, and beyond.We will continue to seek to include specific small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) chapters in all of our future Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to make sure that SMEs are provided with the information necessary to take informed commercial decisions – and seize the great new opportunities created by these agreements.

Trade Agreements: Somalia

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the Government of Somalia on a trade agreement with the UK.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussion she has had with the Government of Somaliland on a trade agreement with the UK.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Somalia will benefit from the United Kingdom’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), which was announced on 10th November. The Least Developed Countries Framework will give duty-free quota-free access to all 47 countries classified by the UN as Least Developed Countries, which includes Somalia. Furthermore, the United Kingdom-funded Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund 2 Plus Programme (TAF2+) is in discussions with Somalia about providing advisory support towards their WTO accession.

Trade Agreements: Ghana

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on a trade agreement with Ghana.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: We are working to secure continuity in our trade arrangements with Ghana after the end of the Transition Period, or as soon as possible thereafter, and continue to engage the Government of Ghana to replicate the effects of our existing Agreement. However, if a deal cannot be reached, Ghana will be eligible for the General Framework of the United Kingdom’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences from 1st January 2021.

Trade Agreements: Human Rights

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she plans to review the trade preferences which initially qualify under the new Enhanced Framework to ensure that the Government offers preferential trading arrangements only to countries that comply with their obligations under international human rights law.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Countries currently in the European Union’s GSP+ tier will receive the same level of market access to the United Kingdom under our Enhanced Framework from 1st January 2021.Receipt of trade preferences under our Enhanced Framework will be subject to conditions, similar to those under the EU’s GSP+. These include ratifying and effectively implementing the same 27 conventions and complying with those conventions’ reporting and monitoring requirements.

Fossil Fuels: Export Credit Guarantees

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many fossil fuel projects UK Export Finance has plans to finance in the 12 months; and where those projects will be located.

Graham Stuart: UK Export Finance (UKEF) is obliged to consider all requests for its support. These requests can be made, and subsequently withdrawn, at any time. When considering a request for support, UKEF conducts extensive due diligence, including environmental, social, and human rights due diligence and consideration of climate change, to understand the risk it is being asked to take. There are various reasons why an application to UKEF might not result in support being provided, or, if support is offered, why delays in providing that support might arise. All these factors make determining when UKEF support may, or even will be provided difficult and imprecise.UKEF is currently considering requests for support for 6 projects involving fossil fuels which may be supported in the next twelve months. UKEF has also received a further 10 applications for trade finance cover in the sector and two applications from companies involved in the sector for support from the Export Development Guarantee which is not linked to any particular project. It is possible that not all these transactions will be concluded within the next 12 months, or indeed in subsequent years.Those projects are in the following countries:Algeria1Azerbaijan2Brazil2Canada1China2Egypt1Iraq1Italy1Malaysia2Thailand1Turkey1Turkmenistan1

G7: Trade

Andrew Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her trade priorities are for the 2021 UK presidency of the G7.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Our Rt Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has identified health, climate change, and global free trade as key priorities for the United Kingdom’s Presidency of the G7 in 2021.Working with our G7 partners, we will work for a strong, sustained response to the pandemic and other global challenges, including strengthening global supply chains and the multilateral trading system. In addition, to help make sure that the global free trading system on which our economies are based remains fair, competitive and secure, our Rt Hon. Friend has announced a Panel on Economic Resilience too.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Overseas Workers: Coronavirus

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether workers engaged in essential work overseas will be considered for early vaccination against covid-19.

Wendy Morton: We are working with the Department for Health and Social Care to consider the international aspects of vaccination, including the situation of workers engaged in essential work overseas.

Amar Fayaz

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in Pakistan on the reported abduction of Amar Fayaz in Jamshoro, Sindh.

Nigel Adams: We are aware of the reported abduction of Amar Fayaz in Sindh, Pakistan. The UK Government strongly condemns any instances of enforced disappearances. We urge states to fully investigate any allegations, prosecute those responsible and provide justice to victims and their families. We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan. Most recently, the Minister of State for South Asia and Minister for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised our concerns about human rights with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 16 November.

Religious Freedom

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Pew Research Center’s 11th annual study of restrictions on religion published on 10 November 2020, that Government restrictions on religion rose to a record high in 2018; and what steps he is taking to tackle restrictions on religion in the (a) Middle East, (b) North Africa and (c) Asia.

Nigel Adams: We have seen the Pew Research Centre's 11th annual study of restrictions on religion and are concerned by its findings. The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. We remain deeply concerned about violations and abuses of FoRB in many parts of the world, including the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with governments, including at Ministerial level. The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad (Tariq) of Wimbledon, underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all in a number of international meetings earlier this month, speaking at the Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Ministers' Forum of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.The Magna Carta Fund for human rights has been used to fund a series of projects around the world, including projects to combat intolerance. The FCDO has also supported research projects in a diverse range of geographic regions, including Asia and the Middle East. These projects have provided the Government with specific recommendations on how we might tackle the problem of persecution as it affects particular countries or groups

Pakistan: Forced Marriage

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Government of Pakistan on the recent spate of kidnappings of young and underage Christian and Hindu girls who have been forced to convert to Islam and marry their abductor.

Nigel Adams: We are concerned about women's and girls' rights in Pakistan and ongoing reports of forced marriage and forced conversion of Hindu, Christian and Sikh women and girls. The UK Government strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls from religious minorities in Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief, women and girls' rights and gender equality with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. On 19 October, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised our concerns about child, early and forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls, including those of religious minorities, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari. In addition, Lord Ahmad raised our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief with Dr Mazari on 16 November.

Philippines: Counter-terrorism

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in the Philippines' Government on the effect of that Government's new Anti-Terrorism Act on (a) the human rights of the Filipino people and (b) the work of civil society organisations in that country.

Nigel Adams: The UK recognises the threat of terrorism in the Philippines and the importance of protecting human rights in the updated Anti-Terrorism Act. We regularly raise human rights concerns and continue to support the work of civil society organisations in the Philippines. I raised our concerns with Foreign Minister Locsin on 20 November, stressing the need for engagement with a new UN technical assistance programme with the Philippines, as set out in a UN Human Rights Council resolution adopted in October 2020.

Racial Discrimination

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) tackle racism in the humanitarian sector and (b) to ensure that the Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter is fulfilled.

Nigel Adams: FCDO maintains an ongoing dialogue with humanitarian actors across a range of important issues, including racism. Specifically, we are engaging with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the main international forum of UN and NGO humanitarian actors, to follow up on the recent statement committing its members to examine and address racism and racial discrimination within their own organisations and in the humanitarian sector. Additionally, we have robust accountability frameworks to ensure that our humanitarian partners uphold humanitarian principles and meet the most urgent needs without discrimination based on race, nationality, religion, gender, disability or other protected characteristics.Sir Philip Barton signed the BITC Race at Work Charter on day one of the FCDO. We are now developing a strategy for fulfilling all five BITC commitments, which will inform and drive our efforts to improve equality of opportunity in the workplace and help build an inclusive FCDO. The FCDO has fulfilled the first commitment in appointing Sir Tim Barrow as the Board Sponsor for race. Sir Tim launched the FCDO Summit Programme - to support and develop BAME colleagues, in preparation for SCS/SMS. We have also launched the Bridges programme - a positive action mentoring programme for more junior staff, including those with a disability, BAME or from a lower socioeconomic background. Both programmes support the fifth BITC commitment on supporting ethnic minority career progression.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the UK's Mission in Geneva is taking to prepare for a new UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka.

Nigel Adams: The UK has long supported efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, including in our role as penholder on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. We firmly believe that UNHRC resolution 30/1, and its successor resolutions 34/1 and 40/1, remain the best framework for establishing truth and achieving justice and lasting reconciliation following the conflict in Sri Lanka. The UK's Mission in Geneva made this clear in statements delivered on behalf of the Core Group on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in February, June and September.The Minister of State for South Asia and Minister for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has also raised these concerns on several occasions with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, most recently during calls on 4 and 5 November respectively. We will continue to engage with the Government of Sri Lanka to underline the importance we attach to this issue. Ahead of the March 2021 session of the UNHRC, we will also continue to work with our international partners and with the HRC on how best to take forward this longstanding priority for the UK.

Pakistan: Forced Marriage

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the level of kidnapping, forced conversion and marriage of Christian and Hindu girls to their older male abductors in Pakistan on the Government’s allocation of Official Development Assistance to that country; and whether his Department has had discussions with the Government of Pakistan on that matter.

Nigel Adams: We are concerned about women's and girls' rights in Pakistan and ongoing reports of forced marriage and forced conversion of Hindu, Christian and Sikh women and girls. The UK Government strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls from religious minorities in Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief, women and girls' rights and gender equality with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. On 19 October, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised our concerns about child, early and forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls, including those of religious minorities, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari. In addition, Lord Ahmad raised our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief with Dr Mazari on 16 November.Pakistan is one of the UK's top development priorities and currently the second largest bilateral aid programme with a total of £257.369 million disbursed in 2019-20. This includes support for policy reform at federal and provincial levels to strengthen child protection laws to prevent child marriage. We are also supporting the creation of child courts which will ensure that issues affecting children, including child marriage, are more effectively dealt with in the legal system. Our aid relationship with any government is based on an assessment of commitment to our Partnership Principles, including human rights. While we will continue to raise human rights as a concern in our dialogue with the Government of Pakistan, including at our annual Bilateral Assistance Talks, it would not be fair for the poorest to suffer from a withdrawal or reduction of UK support.

Religious Freedom: Coronavirus

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on levels of persecution of (a) women and girls from minority faith communities and (b) religious communities around the world.

Nigel Adams: The UK remains deeply concerned by the severity and scale of violations and abuses of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in many parts of the world. Defending the right to FoRB for all is a priority for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 on human rights globally, including members of all minority religious and belief communities. We recognise that women and girls from religious minorities can often suffer because of both their gender and their faith. That is why we ensure our human rights policy work considers the intersectionality of human rights, for example the importance of addressing the specific vulnerabilities experienced by women and girls from religious minority communities. We are concerned by the secondary effects of the pandemic, including incidents of hate speech; reports that some Christian communities have been denied access to aid and, and the rise in conspiracy theories that certain faiths or beliefs are to blame for the pandemic. The UK will continue to refute these divisive and harmful claims.The UK has called for states to ensure that any restrictions put in place to protect public health, including the right to FoRB, are necessary, proportionate and time-limited. The Minister of State for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, urged states to take steps to mitigate the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society, including religious and belief minorities, during the UK's closing statement at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council in July. On 16 November, Lord Ahmad virtually attended the Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief in Warsaw where he reaffirmed the UK's commitment to promoting FoRB within the pandemic.

North Korea: Coronavirus

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2020 to Question HL10034 on North Korea: Coronavirus, if his Department will make available the assessment of the humanitarian situation in North Korea, completed in September 2020.

Nigel Adams: The FCDO assesses the DPRK's humanitarian situation is most likely getting worse. Abnormally high cumulative rainfall in the monsoon period earlier this year caused widespread crop and infrastructure damage. This increases the risk of higher domestic food production deficits, greater food insecurity and failure to meet basic needs in parts of the country. Significant economic deterioration due to COVID-19 control measures and increased access limitations will make it more difficult to provide assistance to the most vulnerable communities.FCDO staff will continue to monitor the situation.

Maher al-Akhras

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the detention of Palestinian man, Maher al-Akhras.

James Cleverly: Officials from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this case with the Israeli Ministry of Justice on 28 October and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 3 November. We understand the Israeli High court officially ended Mr Al-Akhras' administrative detention on November 26, and he has now been released. We remain concerned about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary rather than as routine practice and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure. We continue to call on the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees.

Morocco: Western Sahara

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will instruct HM Ambassador to Morocco to raise with the Moroccan authorities reports of increased harassment by the authorities of Saharawi civilian prisoners in Kenitra prison coinciding with the exchange of fire in Guerguerat.

James Cleverly: We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara. We continue to urge the parties to avoid further escalation, return to the ceasefire agreement, and re-engage with the UN-led political process. Support for human rights is a priority around the world, and we raise human rights issues with the Moroccan Government accordingly.

Turkey: Hamas

Robert Largan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2020 to Question 113686 on Turkey: Hamas, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on that matter.

James Cleverly: The Foreign Secretary has not raised this matter with his Turkish counterpart. The UK's position on Hamas is clear, and Turkey is well aware of this position. Hamas' failure to renounce violence and recognise Israel remains a significant barrier to peace. We continue to call upon Hamas to end permanently their incitement and indiscriminate attacks against Israel.

Giulio Regeni

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is supporting the government of Italy's investigation into Giulio Regeni's murder.

James Cleverly: We have the deepest sympathy for Giulio Regeni's family and their quest for justice for his appalling murder. As Mr Regeni was an Italian citizen, the Italian Government is taking the lead role on his case. We continue to follow the investigation into his death and to work closely with the Italian Government. We last discussed this at an official level with the Italian authorities on 23 November. We have also raised with the Egyptian authorities at a senior level the need for a transparent and impartial investigation, in full co-operation with Italy, so that Mr Regeni's killers can be brought to justice.

Morocco: Western Sahara

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Moroccan counterpart on the military operation started by Morocco in Guerguerat, Western Sahara on 13 November 2020.

James Cleverly: We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara and in regular contact with the parties including Morocco. We continue to urge the parties to avoid further escalation, return to the ceasefire agreement, and re-engage with the UN-led political process.

Morocco: Western Sahara

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Moroccan counterpart with on the house arrest of Saharawi human rights defenders in Morocco.

James Cleverly: Support for human rights and human rights defenders is a priority around the world, including in Morocco, and we raise human rights issues with the Moroccan Government accordingly.

Giulio Regeni

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Italian counterpart on the Italian magistrates’ investigation into the five officials suspected of involvement in the murder of PhD student Giulio Regeni.

James Cleverly: We have the deepest sympathy for Giulio Regeni's family and their quest for justice for his appalling murder. As Mr Regeni was an Italian citizen, the Italian Government is taking the lead role on his case. We continue to follow the investigation into his death and to work closely with the Italian Government. We last discussed this at an official level with the Italian authorities on 23 November. We have also raised with the Egyptian authorities at a senior level the need for a transparent and impartial investigation, in full co-operation with Italy, so that Mr Regeni's killers can be brought to justice.

Assadolah Assadi

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will condemn the reported threats from the arrested Iranian diplomat Assadolah Assadi in Belgium to influence and subvert his trial on terrorism charges in that country.

James Cleverly: We are aware of the trial of four Iranians in Belgium in relation to the 2018 plot against a conference in Paris. We are deeply concerned that an Iranian diplomat is one of those standing trial in connection with the incident and are actively monitoring media reports that the diplomat has threatened "retaliation" should he be convicted. The UK Government does not have access to the court documents on which these reports are based. While the legal process is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Iran: Human Rights

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the Government of Iran's position on human rights.

James Cleverly: The UK regularly discusses with the US a variety of issues related to Iran, including our shared concerns about their human rights record. The UK is committed to holding Iran to account on a wide range of human rights issues, and will continue to take action with the international community and through the UN to press Iran to improve its poor record.

Mohammed el-Halabi

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the statement from four UN Special Rapporteurs on Israel’s continued detention of World Vision’s former Gaza Director, Mohammed el-Halabi, dated 12 November 2020, what recent representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on ensuring Mr el-Halabi is (a) granted the full rights of a fair trial or (b) unconditionally released.

James Cleverly: We are aware of the statement from four UN Special Rapporteurs on Israel's continued detention of World Vision's former Gaza Director, Mohammed el-Halabi, dated 12 November 2020. We remain concerned about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary rather than as routine practice and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure. We continue to call on the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction of overseas aid spending from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income on the UK’s humanitarian work in Yemen.

James Cleverly: The UK is committed to delivering our £200 million aid pledge to Yemen this financial year (2020/21) and we will have disbursed 87 per cent of this funding by the end of November. Our funding aims to support at least 600,000 vulnerable people each month to help buy food this financial year (2020/21) and treat 55,000 children for malnutrition.The funding for next financial year (2021/22) will enable the UK to deliver humanitarian support in current and emerging crises, such as in Yemen, and to tackle the combined threats of coronavirus and famine.Country specific financial allocations for the new financial year (2021/22) will be taken in due course.

Morocco: Western Sahara

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will make representations to the Moroccan Ambassador to the UK on the repression of Sahrawi civilians in the territories of Western Sahara under Moroccan occupation, as a result of the escalation of the conflict between the Polisario Front and Morocco.

James Cleverly: We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara. We continue to urge the parties to avoid further escalation, return to the ceasefire agreement, and re-engage with the UN-led political process. Support for human rights is a priority around the world, and we raise human rights issues with the Moroccan Government accordingly.

Aminatou Haidar

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will ask Her Majesty's Ambassador to Morocco to make representations to  the Moroccan authorities on the travel ban imposed on Aminatou Haidar, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize.

James Cleverly: We have been monitoring the case of Aminatou Haidar. Support for human rights is a priority around the world, and we raise human rights issues with the Moroccan Government accordingly.

Morocco: Western Sahara

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the UN Security Council is taking to hold Morocco to account for reportedly breaching the UN-OAU Settlement Plan in Western Sahara.

James Cleverly: We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara and note reports of breaches of the ceasefire by different parties. We continue to urge the parties to avoid further escalation, return to the ceasefire agreement, and re-engage with the UN-led political process.

Nagorno Karabakh: Refugees

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help Armenians made homeless as a result of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Wendy Morton: On 30 October the Foreign Secretary announced £1 million in funding to the ICRC to support their humanitarian efforts in the region. The UK Government is providing funding towards additional monitoring and analysis of the humanitarian situation via organisations such as the Humanitarian 2 Humanitarian network and supporting additional posts within the UN offices in-country. We continue to urge both sides to ensure the safety and security of all displaced persons, including through my recent calls with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister and the Armenian Foreign Minister. The UK Government is keeping the situation under close review, coordinating with local and international partners and will continue to explore opportunities to support partners to deliver an effective international response.

Females: Crimes of Violence

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that tackling violence against women and girls remains a priority for his Department.

Wendy Morton: Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a core part of this Government's mission and we remain steadfast in our commitment to this agenda. This work is more important than ever, as COVID-19 has intensified the shadow pandemic of gender-based violence (GBV).We are scaling up our investments in VAWG, including through the launch early next year of a new £67.5 million seven-year programme to scale up effective interventions to prevent VAWG. We are also making the biggest single investment worldwide to date by any international donor to end FGM (£50 million). Next year the UK will take up Presidency of the G7 and we are co-leading the global Generation Equality Action Coalition on GBV. We are using these opportunities to rally the international community to do more to end VAWG.

Gender Recognition: Homicide

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) people who have been convicted of murder and (b) victims of murder who were transgender around the world.

Wendy Morton: The FCDO does not collect statistics for the number of people convicted of murder, or victims of murder who were transgender, around the world.The Government firmly believes that the chance to live with dignity, free from violence or discrimination, should not depend on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. We directly challenge governments that criminalise homosexuality, at the highest possible level. The UK is currently co-chair and a founder-member of the Equal Rights Coalition, a grouping of 42 countries committed to working together to promote LGBTI equality globally. We work with partner countries and through international organisations, including the UN, OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth, to promote inclusion.We believe that the strongest, safest and most prosperous societies are those in which all citizens can live freely without fear of violence or discrimination. The international community must uphold the universality of human rights.

Uganda: Violence

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Uganda on the recent arrest of the Presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi and the subsequent violence in that country.

James Duddridge: The UK Government is deeply concerned by the violence during protests in Kampala and other cities in Uganda following the arrest of Presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi (also known as Bobi Wine) on 18 November. Tragically, lives have been lost and our thoughts are with the families of all those affected. On 20 November, I issued a tweet that called for all parties to reject violence, work to de-escalate the situation and to respect the rights of all Ugandans to express their views in a peaceful manner.We continue to call on Uganda to guarantee freedoms enshrined in the Ugandan Constitution. At the UN Security Council on 13 October, we called on the Government of Uganda to ensure elections in January 2021 are peaceful, free and fair. The British High Commissioner in Kampala has also raised the importance of free and fair elections and respect for human rights directly with senior Government Ministers and will continue to do so. The UK calls on all governments to ensure any restrictions put in place to protect public health are necessary, proportionate and time-limited, and do not undermine the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression.

Syria: Refugees

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Syrian refugees during the covid-19 pandemic.

James Cleverly: The UK has provided over £1.73 billion since 2011 to help neighbouring countries host Syrian refugees, and we continue to support host governments to assist Syrian refugees during the pandemic. This support includes our commitment at the Brussels Syria Conference to provide at least £300 million to the Syria Crisis, helping vulnerable Syrians with education, healthcare, food and economic recovery.In addition to existing UK funding to the most vulnerable in Lebanon, the UK has committed $2 million to provide medical equipment for the World Health Organisation, and support police and security forces to help implement the response to COVID-19 and keep communities safe. Additionally, following the Beirut port explosion, the UK provided a £25 million package of assistance. In Turkey, Syrian refugees are supported through the UK-funded Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRIT). Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the FRIT has continued to support the 3.6 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey. Regular monthly stipends continued uninterrupted and were increased in value to 1.7 million of Turkey's most vulnerable refugees.In Jordan, existing UK funding continues to support more than 479,000 refugees meet their basic requirements through the provision of cash-based assistance. The UK also provided an additional £2 million to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable and has helped the Government of Jordan to support the needs of vulnerable children including refugees recover and accelerate their learning following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Palestinians: Terrorism

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 117220 on Palestinians: Radicalism, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Palestinian Authority's practice of paying salaries to prisoners convicted of terrorist offences.

James Cleverly: No UK aid is used for payments to prisoners or their families. The UK has robust controls against fraud and the diversion of aid to ensure UK aid reaches the intended beneficiaries.We are clear that the prisoner payments system should be reformed so that it is needs based, transparent and affordable. The UK has and continues to raise the need for reform at the highest levels of the Palestinian Authority, including when the Foreign Secretary visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories in August.

Gaza Strip: Coronavirus

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 15 June 2020 to Question 57229 on Gaza, what assessment his Department has made of the recent warning from the World Health Organization that within a week the health system in Gaza will be unable to care for critical cases of covid-19.

James Cleverly: The UK remains concerned about the capacity of an already fragile health system in Gaza. We have provided £1.25 million funding (WHO with £630,000 and UNICEF with £620,000) to purchase and co-ordinate delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline health workers and scale up laboratory testing capacity – mainly in Gaza. This funding helped to provide over 20,000 testing kits, 59,500 PPE items for around 4,900 health workers. The British Consulate General also supported the delivery of 24 respirators to the Palestinian Ministry of Health for several hospitals across the West Bank and Gaza to help provide support for critical cases.

Gaza Strip: Coronavirus

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2020 to Question 57229 on Gaza, what recent assessment his Department has made of the capacity of the health system in Gaza to cope with the rapid increase in covid-19 cases.

James Cleverly: The UK remains concerned about the capacity of an already fragile health system in Gaza. We have provided £1.25 million funding (WHO with £630,000 and UNICEF with £620,000) to purchase and co-ordinate delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline health workers and scale up laboratory testing capacity – mainly in Gaza. This funding helped to provide over 20,000 testing kits, 59,500 PPE items for around 4,900 health workers. The British Consulate General also supported the delivery of 24 respirators to the Palestinian Ministry of Health for several hospitals across the West Bank and Gaza to help provide support for critical cases.

Palestinians: Radicalism

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 117220 on Palestinians: Radicalism, what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority on (a) the content of textbooks in the new Palestinian Authority school curriculum which allegedly incites violence against Israel and Jews and (b) the reported naming of official Palestinian Authority schools after people convicted of terrorism offences.

James Cleverly: The UK is concerned about allegations of incitement in Palestinian Authority (PA) textbooks. The UK does not fund textbooks in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. UK aid to the PA helps to ensure it can deliver essential services, including by the contributing to the salaries of carefully vetted education and healthcare professionals in the West Bank.We regularly raise our concerns about allegations of incitement in Palestinian textbooks and school naming at senior levels within the PA and will continue to do so.

Ethiopia: Humanitarian Aid

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Tigray as a result of the conflict in that region; and whether the UK is providing any humanitarian assistance to people affected by that conflict.

James Duddridge: The UK is concerned by the ongoing violence in the Tigray region and the risks these events pose to civilian lives. The UN preparedness response plan estimates that 1.98m people could be affected by violence in Tigray and neighbouring states. This number includes a caseload of 885,000 people that already rely on humanitarian support plus a further, additional caseload of 1.1m people that are likely to be exposed to violence many of whom may be displaced from their homes and communities. We are contributing to UN-led planning efforts for Tigray and have called on all involved to ensure the protection of civilians, and to restore humanitarian access to allow the delivery of aid and essential services. I reiterated this in my tweet of 19 November and when I spoke with the Ethiopian Ambassador in London on 18 November.We are in close contact with UK-funded humanitarian agencies working in Tigray to understand humanitarian needs and what programme adaptations are required, as well as monitoring the regional situation, with over 30,000 refugees fleeing to Sudan. In Ethiopia, the UK provides funds to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Ethiopian Humanitarian Fund, to provide food assistance, shelter, water and sanitation, health, nutrition and protection support. In Sudan, flexible UK funding to WFP and the UNHCR is already helping new refugees from Ethiopia to receive emergency assistance, including shelter and food. These agencies have proven themselves capable of working in high risk contexts, in Ethiopia and elsewhere, and for managing UK funds adeptly.

Jonathan Taylor

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made in the last two weeks to his counterpart in (a) Croatia and (b) Monaco on securing the return of Jonathan Taylor to the UK.

Wendy Morton: On 13 November, I made calls to Croatian and Monegasque Foreign Ministers, to seek assurance that they both give full consideration to what protection Mr Taylor should be afforded as a whistle-blower.

Ministry of Defence

Defence: National Security

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy.

Jeremy Quin: Work continues on the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy which is Defence-led but brings in the views of other departments across Government. The review is ongoing and its findings are being used to inform the Government’s broader Integrated Review, the conclusions of which will be announced in the new year.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel have been made involuntarily redundant in each year since 2010.

Johnny Mercer: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on each Armed Forces redundancy scheme in each year since 2010.

Johnny Mercer: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Type 32 Frigates

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans the Type 32 frigates he plans to order to primarily be forward deployed.

Jeremy Quin: The operating model will be matured during the concept phase, which has not yet been launched.

Ministry of Defence: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2020.

Johnny Mercer: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises it is important that we take every opportunity to appreciate and celebrate men on International Men's Day (IMD). Every year IMD offers an opportunity to highlight the important work going on every day across Government aimed at improving the lives of men and boys.This work ranges from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities looking at outcomes for the whole population, including men; preparation for an Employment Bill which, subject to further consultation, will make flexible working the default unless employers have good reason not to; and delivering the Suicide Prevention Workplan, which sets out action that is being taken across Government Departments and the NHS to reduce suicides, including amongst men. This Government is committed to levelling up opportunity and ensuring fairness for all, regardless of gender.The MOD plays an active part in the work of IMD as we seek to highlight our positive male role models and raise awareness for men's well-being and the contribution they make to society for the greater good, their families, colleagues, friends and communities. In addition to encouraging our people to participate in the various activities organised by Civil Service Local, the MOD has also organised virtual webinars and online discussions, including a panel discussion on flexible working and positive male role models; a forum on the lived experiences of men; and a discussion on how the menopause affects men.

Greece: Type 32 Frigates

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his Greek counterparts on purchasing Type 23 frigates.

Jeremy Quin: There have been no substantive talks with Greece on the sale of Type 23 Frigates, but discussions on how the UK could assist Greece in meeting its maritime security requirements are ongoing.

Fleet Solid Support Ships

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what work is being undertaken on the Fleet Solid Support Ships.

Jeremy Quin: As announced by the Secretary of State for Defence on 21 October 2020, the competition for the new Fleet Solid Support ships will commence in Spring 2021. Work is currently underway to meet that target.

Scots Guards

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for the (a) Armed Forces Covenant and (b) security of the realm of changes in Scots Guards troop numbers.

Johnny Mercer: The size and shape of the Armed Forces has no bearing on the Armed Forces Covenant, which is a promise from the nation that those who serve or served in the Armed Forces, and their families, face no disadvantage in accessing public and commercial goods and services as a result of their military service. It also makes special provision for those who have sacrificed the most, such as the bereaved and injured. While our Armed Forces must rebalance, evolve, and modernise to meet the threats of the future, the historical importance of the Scots Guards to the British Army is fully recognised. The Defence Secretary will set out further details related to the Defence settlement in due course.

Ministry of Defence: Credit Unions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to require his Department and its agencies to provide a payroll deduction service to allow staff to save more easily with a credit union; and if he will make a statement.

Johnny Mercer: Credit Union (CU) facilities for members of the Armed Forces have been in place since November 2015 and for veterans in receipt of an Armed Forces pension since March 2016. These CU facilities are also now open to the Ministry of Defence's civilian employees.A facility is available for UK Regular Armed Forces personnel to access CU services via payroll deductions. For civilian employees, access to CU services is via direct debit. Three chosen CUs work together collectively under the banner 'Joining Forces' to provide access to dependable savings facilities and safe, affordable, loans. Further details are available from their website:http://joiningforcescu.co.uk/

Ministry of Defence: Aviation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many flights (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have taken to the US in each year since 2010.

Johnny Mercer: Information regarding Ministerial travel is publicly available as part of the Government's commitment to publishing transparency information.The information is published every quarter and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-with-external-organisations-in-the-ministry-of-defence and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings Data for officials has been provided from 2018, records before this time are held in digital archives, it will take time to obtain and collate this information. I will write to the hon. Member when it is available. See below:YearNet TransactionsNet Sectors201816,69241,596201920,426498712020 ( Jan to Oct)6,75314,901 Transactions are ‘bookings’, and sectors are the number of flights within the bookings, i.e. trips that required multiple flights. Please note that one of the executive agencies of MOD used a contracted provider from April 2016 until August 2019 before joining MOD-wide travel provider. For completeness, we have included figures for 2018 and 2019 in the table above. The table below shows flights taken between April 2016 to December 2017. No data is available for flights prior to April 2016. Apr-Dec 20161,142 flightsJan-Dec 20171,512 flights

Armed Forces: Northern Ireland

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department plans to bring forward legislative measures for service personnel and veterans who served in Northern Ireland.

Johnny Mercer: The Government is committed to ensuring that veterans who served in Northern Ireland are treated as fairly as those who served overseas.The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland will bring forward legislation to address the legacy of the Troubles which focuses on reconciliation, delivers for victims, and ends the cycle of reinvestigations into the Troubles in Northern Ireland that has failed victims and veterans alike - delivering on our commitments to Northern Ireland veterans.We remain committed to making progress and engaging with all partners on this important issue.

Armed Forces: Death

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many accidental deaths there have been in the (a) Royal Air Force, (b) Royal Navy and (c) British Army in each of the last five years.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence takes the health and wellbeing of our personnel extremely seriously. The establishment of the Defence Safety Authority in 2015 was followed by a review and strengthening of Head Office’s governance of Health, Safety, and Environmental Protection (HS&EP). The Defence Secretary has set out his commitment to HS&EP in a Policy Statement requiring the Department to minimise work-related fatalities. The table below provides a breakdown of deaths due to accidents in the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force in each of the last five years. YearDeaths due to accidents by ServiceRoyal NavyArmyRoyal Air Force2019120720183163201721922016417420155143Notes:Data is for regular armed forces personnel only.These figures are provisional and may be subject to change following coroners’ inquests into 11 deaths currently awaiting verdicts.3. Royal Navy includes the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.4. This information is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-deaths-in-service-statistics-index The information provided includes all deaths that occurred both on and off duty among regular personnel. It does not identify those deaths that were work related that may or may not have been the result of health and safety failures.

Defence: Coronavirus

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November to Question 117223 on Defence: Coronavirus, what criteria are used to decide which defence outputs are classed as critical during periods of covid-19 restrictions.

James Heappey: Defence priorities are reviewed annually and articulated in the Defence Plan. This outlines non-discretionary and discretionary tasks for Defence and is one of the key criteria used to identify critical activity. While the detail is classified, examples of non-discretionary tasks which were maintained during COVID restrictions include those relating to the Continuous At Sea Deterrent, homeland security, major operations and crisis response.

Science: China

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of China's thousand talents programme on UK national security.

James Heappey: UK universities are international at their core and we encourage them to collaborate with international partners. It is precisely that interconnectedness that ensures the UK higher education sector remains world-class. We are concerned by any reported attempts to interfere with the UK's world-leading higher education sector. Government continues to work with the sector to identify and mitigate the risks of interference.To retain the UK's reputation for quality, it is important that universities are security-minded in their approach to safeguard our core values. That is why we asked Universities UK, on behalf of the sector and with Government support, to develop a programme of work to increase understanding and awareness of the threat from interference. A key output of this work was the development of guidelines for institutions which were published on 15 October 2020.Further procedures in place to protect national security, include the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS). This requires all international students subject to existing UK immigration permissions, who are applying to study for a postgraduate qualification in certain sensitive subjects, to apply for an ATAS certificate before they can study in the UK. ATAS relevant subjects are those which could be used to assist the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), their means of delivery and advanced conventional military technology programmes. We constantly assess ATAS and other Counter Proliferation tools to ensure they are fit for purpose; this includes ensuring ATAS is targeted at the right area and right level. These procedures help to protect our national security interests.We want a mature, positive relationship with China, based on mutual respect and trust, but we are clear-sighted about the challenges. The UK is a world-leading destination for international students, and we have robust procedures in place to protect national security interests. We closely monitor any potential links between international students and foreign military organisations. Universities and individuals must comply with the law to protect the sector from exploitation.

Armed Forces

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time equivalent personnel served in the armed forces in each year since 2010.

James Heappey: Statistics for the strength of UK Armed Forces between 2012 and 2020, for both Regular and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, have been published by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) which can be found in Table 1 of the Service Personnel Statistics report at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2020 Prior to this, the MOD Armed Forces Personnel Statistics provided the Strength of UK Armed Forces for full time trained and untrained personnel between 2009 and 2012, which can be found at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/280455/1_june_2012.pdf

Type 32 Frigates

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Type 32 frigate will be able to undertake NATO operations.

James Heappey: The roles and capabilities for the Type 32 frigate will be decided following the concept phase, which has not yet been launched.

Type 31 Frigates

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Type 31 frigate is able to undertake NATO operations.

James Heappey: Flexible and adaptable by design, the Type 31 general purpose frigate will undertake missions such as interception and disruption of those using the sea for unlawful purposes, intelligence collecting, defence engagement and assistance to those in need. It is expected that Type 31 frigates will routinely deploy to conduct enduring tasks such as NATO Standing Maritime Groups, as well as contributing to maritime response and contingent operations.

Type 31 Frigates

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what meetings the Shipbuilding Tsar has held with potential buyers of the Type 31e Frigate.

Jeremy Quin: Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and I have regular conversations with international partners on a variety of naval export opportunities. UK industry, working in partnership with the UK Defence & Security Exports (UKDSE) and MOD are actively pursuing a number of naval campaigns, including for Type 31. Exports is a key part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, and the Secretary of State for Defence, as the Shipbuilding Tsar, continues to lead this work across government. Export success will support jobs, skills and prosperity in UK shipyards, while providing industry with returns to invest in innovation and productivity improvements yielding better capability and value for money for HMG-funded programmes.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many different software standards are in the UK's F-35Bs.

Jeremy Quin: There are two software standards in the UK Fleet due to the progressive transition approach between software loads. UK test aircraft in the USA fly with an additional test-specific software load.

Solid Fleet Support Ships

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral statement of the Prime Minister on 19 November 2020, Official Report, column 487 on the Integrated Review, whether he has plans to order two or three Solid Fleet Support ships for the Royal Navy.

Jeremy Quin: The Defence Secretary will set out further details on Fleet Solid Support when the competition is launched in Spring 2021.

Ministry of Defence: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the funding settlement for his Department announced on 19 November 2020 is (a) capital and (b) revenue.

Jeremy Quin: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) settlement is for £188 billion over the four years from 2020-21, of which £126 billion is for resource spending (excluding non-cash items such as depreciation) and £62 billion is for capital spending. A further £1.3 billion has been allocated as a contingency for Dreadnought. The SR20 funding announcement does not specify revenue assumptions in MOD’s funding settlement.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to bring all delivered F-35Bs to the same software standard.

Jeremy Quin: All F-35B aircraft software is updated bi-annually through a regular planned programme of software loads. To ensure maximum operational availability, maintenance activity required to update each software load is staggered across the available fleet; this transition period is pre-determined and monitored.

Submarines

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much he plans to allocate to the submarine recycling and submarine dismantling programmes in the next four years.

Jeremy Quin: We remain committed to the disposal of laid-up nuclear submarines and will continue to consider Departmental priorities in accordance with established processes. It is not MOD policy to pre-announce the funding of its projects for reasons of protecting commercial interests.

Nuclear Submarines: Devonport Dockyard

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of retired nuclear submarines expected to be in long-term storage in Devonport by 2024.

Jeremy Quin: There are currently 13 decommissioned submarines in Devonport. Future out-of-service dates for Royal Navy submarines are withheld as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Type 32 Frigates

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Government plans to announce further details of the components of a Type 32 Frigate.

Jeremy Quin: The programme and procurement strategy for Type 32 will be decided following the concept phase, which has not yet been launched. Further work is required to develop the operational concept however it is envisioned that Type 32 will be a platform for autonomous systems, adding to the Navy's capabilities for missions such as anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures.

Frigates

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the differences are there between a Type 31 Frigate and a Type 32 Frigate.

Jeremy Quin: The programme and procurement strategy for Type 32 will be decided following the concept phase, which has not yet been launched. Further work is required to develop the operational concept however it is envisioned that Type 32 will be a platform for autonomous systems, adding to the Navy's capabilities for missions such as anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures.

Type 32 Frigates

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the statement by the Prime Minister of 19 November 2020 on the update on the Integrated Review, how many Type 32 frigates he plans to order.

Jeremy Quin: The number of ships in the class will be determined by the requirements placed on Defence by the Government, and the outcome of the development work on the operational concept.

Type 32 Frigates

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Type 32 frigates he plans to order.

Jeremy Quin: The number of ships in the class will be determined by the requirements placed on Defence by the Government, and the outcome of the development work on the operational concept.

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral statement of the Prime Minister on 19 November 2020, Official Report, column 487 on Integrated Review, whether the additional funding announced for the Ministry of Defence has changed the out-of-service dates for (a) HMS Albion and (b) HMS Bulwark.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 November 2020 to Question 117928 to the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Julian Lewis).117928 - HMS Albion and Bulwark (docx, 13.3KB)

Shipping: Plymouth

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on the designation of Plymouth as the National Centre for Marine Autonomy Excellence.

Jeremy Quin: There are no current Ministry of Defence plans to designate any specific location as the National Centre for Marine Autonomy Excellence.

Gulf War Syndrome

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date the Minister for Veterans last met with former military personnel to discuss Gulf War syndrome.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the (a) scientific and medical evidence relating to Gulf War Syndrome and (b) the potential merits of formally recognising that condition.

Johnny Mercer: The UK Government's strategy on research topics and studies into the health of Gulf War veterans has been informed and overseen by independent scientific experts nominated by the Medical Research Council, taking account of published peer-reviewed international literature and international studies. We have no plans to undertake further research on Gulf War issues, however, we take the wellbeing of all veterans very seriously and continue to monitor any Gulf War research that is published around the world. The UK Government has seen no peer-reviewed evidence of raised levels of health disorders in Gulf veterans. The overwhelming evidence from international scientific research shows no adverse health effects. In line with contemporary medical and scientific understanding from the mid-1990s onwards, no distinct disease process or pathology associated with Gulf illness has been identified. However, we do recognise that some veterans of the 1990/91 Gulf Conflict are ill and that some of this ill health is related to their Gulf service. In such cases, compensation may be claimed under the War Pensions Scheme with appropriate medical care provided by the NHS across the UK. Advice and support are also available through the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Veterans UK organisation and the Veterans Welfare Service. MOD Ministers and officials have regular meetings with veterans’ groups, as well as their counterparts in the Department for Health and Social Care, NHS and Office for Veterans’ Affairs in the Cabinet Office, to ensure that the health needs of veterans are properly considered. There are no plans to have meetings with former military personnel to discuss Gulf War Syndrome.

Department for Work and Pensions

Industrial Health and Safety: Coronavirus

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has received on workplaces not being covid-secure since August 2020; and how long it took HSE to respond to each of those complaints.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Access to Work Programme: Kickstart Scheme

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to integrate the Access to Work fast track scheme into the Kickstart scheme.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit: Coronavirus

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate the Government has made of the number of (a) kinship carers and (b) children raised in kinship care that have been affected by the benefit cap as a result of the temporary increase made to welfare benefits in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit: Coronavirus

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) universal credit and (b) working tax credit have been affected by the benefit cap as a result of the temporary increase made to those benefits in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and how many children are resident in the households of those claimants so affected.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what research her Department (a) has conducted and (b) plans to conduct to understand the reasons for the increase from February to May 2020 in the number of households in London affected by the benefit cap.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to section 96(A) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, when she next plans to review the level of the benefit cap.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's policy is on the frequency with which work coaches are expected to meet clients on universal credit.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question

Jonathan Edwards: What assessment her Department has made of the effect on disabled people of excluding legacy benefits from the universal credit covid-19 uplift.

Justin Tomlinson: Legacy benefits were increased by £600m (1.7%) from April 2020 and will receive a further £100m (0.5%) increase from April 2021 as part of the Government’s annual up-rating exercise.Claimants on legacy benefits can make a claim for UC if they believe that they will be better off. Those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium, will be able to make a new claim to Universal Credit from January 2021.

Question

Matt Western: What recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of unemployment.

Mims Davies: Latest ONS Labour Market data puts the unemployment level in the West Midlands region at 145,000.Due to the Pandemic, the rate has risen nationally and DWP is working closely across government and with external organisations and local partners to ensure a tailored local response for communities.We are recruiting additional Work Coaches in our Jobcentres who are supporting new and existing claimants into work.

Question

Caroline Ansell: What steps her Department is taking to encourage businesses to participate in the Kickstart scheme.

Mims Davies: I regularly meet with officials to focus on delivery and we have an agile process to deliver the Kickstart scheme. We will continue to review and evaluate the scheme as it rolls out - it is a key priority for me as Employment Minister.Our employer and partnership teams in Eastbourne and across the country are working with employers to promote and deliver local Kickstart opportunities and ensure they are able to link up with the right Gateway Organisations.

Personal Independence Payment

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were in receipt of disability living allowance have not migrated to personal independence payments (PIP); and whether his Department has been in contact with people who have not migrated to PIP.

Justin Tomlinson: There were 274,970 claimants with entitlement to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) as of the end of May 2020 who were aged 16-64 on 8th April 2013, the day Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was introduced, who remain in scope to be invited to claim PIP. Children in receipt of DLA will continue to be invited to claim PIP on reaching age 16. In July 2020, we started to resume some activity on reviews and reassessments where it was possible to do so safely and without compromising the delivery of new claims and change of circumstance cases, which remain our priority. DLA claimants have been informed of the roll-out of PIP, including who is in scope to be invited, through their annual uprating letters and information published on GOV.UK. Notes Source: DLA Computer SystemFrom 8th April 2013, DLA for people of working age was replaced by PIP for new claims. PIP is also gradually replacing existing DLA claims for people who were aged between 16 and 64 on 8 April 2013, or reach age 16 after that date.This data includes all claimants with a DLA claim with entitlement who were aged 16-64 on 8th April 2013, this means that they were born between 9th April 1948 and 8th April 1997 inclusive.It is assumed that all DLA claimants aged 16-64 on 8th April 2013 will be eligible for a reassessment to PIP in the future.The statistics here include those who have had their payment suspended, for example if they are in hospital.Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.Great Britain onlyThis is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

Access to Work Programme: Coronavirus

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the Access to Work fast track scheme is available to all disabled workers who need reasonable adjustments to be able to work during the covid-19 outbreak.

Justin Tomlinson: Access to Work already prioritises applications from disabled people who have a job to start within 4 weeks of their application. Recognising the impact Covid has had on disabled people, Access to Work has expanded the prioritisation to include those in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable group and keyworkers. Applications will be fast tracked to ensure that the employer and the disabled person are supported in the workplace from the outset.  Background Access to Work (ATW) is a demand-led, discretionary grant to de-risk the recruitment and retention of disabled people for employers. The grant contributes to the disability related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition that are beyond reasonable adjustment, but it does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments. The grant provides personalised support and can provide workplace assessments, travel to/in work, support workers, specialist aids and equipment for individuals to enable disabled people and those with a health condition to move into or retain employment. And can fund up to £60,700 worth of flexible, personalised support per person per year. Recognising the challenges Covid-19 has for employers and disabled people, Access to Work has introduced a new more flexible offer to support disabled people to move into and retain employment. The new offer complements support provided by employers and contains a flexible mix of support that can be adapted to meet the needs of new Covid-19 working arrangements. The offer includes:support to work from more than one location,a package of home working support which can be blended with workplace support,mental health wellbeing support for people returning to work after a period of furlough or shielding,travel-to-work support for those who may no longer be able to safely travel by public transport due to the nature of their disability, andprioritising Access to Work applications from disabled people in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Group. If Access to Work were to extend the categories of prioritisation further, the ability to prioritise applications would be lost as the majority of Access to Work applications would be in the prioritised category, resulting in all applications being treated the same.

Universal Credit: Endometriosis

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many yearly applications have been made of universal credit which cite endometriosis as the reason for application in the last five years; and what proportion of those applications were successful.

Will Quince: The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit: Coronavirus

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make funding available to support extending the uplift to universal credit beyond April 2021.

Will Quince: The £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit was announced by the Chancellor as a temporary measure in March 2020 to support those facing the most financial disruption as a result of the public health emergency. This measure remains in place until April 2021. As the Government has done throughout this crisis, it will continue to assess how best to support low-income families, which is why we will look at the economic and health context in the new year.

Department for Work and Pensions: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2020.

Guy Opperman: In the department (DWP), every year, International Men’s Day (IMD) offers an opportunity to highlight some key issues and policies that are available to support men. Our policies range from our flexible working hours, the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our support for Domestic Abuse and Mental Health through our community of 1600+ Mental Health First Aiders. In DWP we have a series of national events taking place over the week to mark IMD. The DWP’s Director General Gender Champion opened an IMD session which included male senior leaders talking about their own personal journey. DWP have partnered with The Good Lad Initiative (GLI), following the success of last year’s events. The specific events cover Thinking about Masculinities and Workplace Cultures and Allyship and Inclusion - men reflecting on their own workplace cultures and positions as leaders and communication skills needed to be effective and compassionate bystanders and to generate debate around the question DWP has also updated its Gender and Wellbeing pages with support available to colleagues and a number of blogs have been published by colleagues of all genders with titles ranging from “Men who inspire me”, “how talking has helped me” to men’s mental health.

Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit: Endometriosis

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential barriers people with endometriosis face when trying to access (a) personal independence payments and (b) universal credit.

Justin Tomlinson: Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and the level at which it can be paid, is based on the daily living and mobility needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, rather than being based on the condition or disability itself. People with endometriosis are able to access PIP in the same way as other people with long-term health conditions or disabilities. Universal Credit (UC) claimants with endometriosis are able to access UC in the same way as other people with long-term health conditions or disabilities. A Work Capability Assessment is used to determine someone’s capacity to work or engage in work-related activity, rather than their specific health condition

Personal Independence Payment: Endometriosis

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many yearly applications have been made for personal independence payments which cite endometriosis as the reason for application in the last five years; and what proportion of those applications were successful.

Justin Tomlinson: In the PIP application process, claimants’ main disabling condition is only recorded for collation by the Department at assessment. It is not recorded at the point of application. The Department does not therefore hold data on the number of applicants to PIP with particular conditions. Only those who have a disability assessment determination decision will have a main disabling condition recorded for them. In respect of the second part of your question, I would like to refer you to the detailed statistics for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that can be found in Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. We collect data on the main disability condition for those who have had a PIP clearance. This includes those awarded and disallowed at assessment and can be broken down by disability. ‘Endometriosis’ is found under ‘Diseases of the ovary, uterus, cervix, vagina and vulva’ which is under the main disability group of ‘Genitourinary disease’ Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.

Social Security Benefits: Endometriosis

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2020 to Question 19986 on social security benefits: endometriosis, what proportion of healthcare professionals employed by the Centre for Health and Disability Assessment have undertaken the learning module on endometriosis as part of their Continuous Professional Development.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the guidance provided for disability benefits assessors on how endometriosis can affect an individual’s ability to work.

Justin Tomlinson: Currently, while preparing to undertake an assessment, Healthcare Professionals can access a wide range of clinical resources to research any conditions presented. This includes a learning module on chronic pain that contains a section on endometriosis. Current guidance enables Healthcare Professionals to have a satisfactory understanding of endometriosis and how it can affect an individual’s ability to work. Experienced clinicians can also support them in assessing individuals with conditions that they may not be familiar with. As previously advised, Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) plans to develop and deliver a learning module on endometriosis as part of their upcoming Continuous Professional Development schedule. As agreed with the department, this training module is scheduled for delivery in July 2021. Once delivered all Healthcare Professionals will be expected to complete the module as part of their Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme

Universal Credit

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people whose universal credit payments have incurred errors in (a) Wales, (b) England and (c) the UK, in each year since 2015.

Will Quince: The Department is committed to ensuring we are paying the right people the right amount of Universal Credit.We published our annual ‘Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2019 to 2020 estimates’ report in May 2020, and this includes information and data across benefit types, including Universal Credit. It can be accessed online using the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2019-to-2020-estimates.Data for previous financial years is also available via.gov.uk; however, changes in recording methodology mean that comparisons cannot be made with years prior to 2018/19.The vast majority of benefit expenditure is paid correctly, with front line staff working hard to prevent overpayments from occurring. We are constantly improving our processes and continue to invest in the use of data and analytics to identify fraud and error.Once rolled out, DWP expects the high-level design of Universal Credit to lead to around £1bn in benefit savings each year from reduced fraud and error.

Access to Work Programme: Job Entry Targeted Support

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to integrate the Access to Work fast track scheme into the Job Entry Targeted Support scheme.

Justin Tomlinson: Participants finding work through Work and Health Programme Job Entry: Targeted Support can get support from their employment adviser to make transition into employment including support with Access to Work process.Participants who are successful in securing a job offer, and submit their application to Access to Work within 4 weeks of their start date will have their application automatically prioritised by Access to Work.  Background Access to Work already prioritises applications from key workers, people who are in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Group and disabled people who have a job to start within the next 4 weeks. If Access to Work was to extend the prioritisation further then the ability to prioritise applications would be lost as the majority of Access to Work applications would be in the prioritised category, which would result in all applications being treated the same and the prioritisation would be lost.

Disability: Coronavirus

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to encourage employers to provide adaptive technology for employees with mobility issues who are working from home during the covid-19 outbreak.

Justin Tomlinson: Access to Work (AtW) encourages employers to provide assistive technology for disabled employees by waiving employer contributions meaning employers are more incentivised to try assistive technology providing the disabled person with the support they need. Atw also provides specialist aides and equipment for disabled people within the workplace whilst supporting employers by providing advice and guidance on what support maybe available. This support includes assistive technology which employers can discuss with their employees and where agreed AtW will provide grant funding for this technology.

Statutory Sick Pay: Coronavirus

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who are clinically extremely vulnerable have registered for statutory sick pay since July 2020 because their workplace was not covid-secure.

Justin Tomlinson: Employees do not need to register for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Employers are legally required to pay SSP to eligible employees who are sick or incapable of work, where their employee meets the eligibility criteria. The government does not collect, or require the reporting of, any data on sickness absences from employers and so does not hold data on the number of clinically extremely vulnerable individuals receiving SSP. In England, shielding was paused nationally from 1 August 2020 to 5 November 2020. During this period, clinically extremely vulnerable individuals were not eligible for SSP on the basis of being clinically extremely vulnerable as they were not advised to shield and were able to go to work if they could not work from home. Clinically extremely vulnerable employees can be furloughed if their employer is eligible to do so. All employers are required to take steps to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace. If an individual has concerns about their health and safety at work, they can raise them with any union safety representatives, or ultimately with the organisation responsible for enforcement in their workplace, either the Health and Safety Executive or their local authority.SSP is available to clinically extremely vulnerable individuals who have been advised to stay at home (known as shielding) and are unable to work as a result. Individuals will receive a notification, advising them on the shielding advice to follow and how long for. This notification may be in the form of a letter from their doctor or from the government.

Access to Work Programme

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received Access to Work support while undertaking traineeships, internships or other unpaid work placements in (a) 2017, (b) 2018 and (c) 2019; and if she will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Access to Work Programme: Coronavirus

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) applied to and (b) benefitted from the Access the Work scheme from March to October 2020.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested past March is intended for future release in the 2020/21 Official Statistics publication. The number of applications and beneficiaries for the period April 2019 to March 2020 is available in the latest Access to Work statistics publication but this is not broken down by month. Data on a monthly basis would not be exact as the number of people applying to and benefitting from certain Access to Work elements will not be captured within a month’s time frame. Hence, we generally choose to aggregate at a yearly level to avoid data inconsistencies. The latest Access to Work official statistics can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-to-work-statistics  Background Access to WorkAccess to Work (ATW) is a demand-led, discretionary grant to de-risk the recruitment and retention of disabled people for employers. The grant contributes to the disability related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition that are beyond reasonable adjustment, but it does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments. The grant provides personalised support and can provide workplace assessments, travel to/in work, support workers, specialist aids and equipment for individuals to enable disabled people and those with a health condition to move into or retain employment. And can fund up to £60,700 worth of flexible, personalised support per person per year. During the pandemic Access to Work has continued to provide support whether disabled people were working in the workplace or working from home. Acknowledging the challenges Coronavirus had for disabled people, Access to Work introduced a series of measures.Prioritising new applications from key workers and those with jobs starting within the next 4 weeks;Adapting existing awards to meet new working environments. Such as, switching from face to face British Sign Language Interpreting to Video Remote Interpreting services where possible as well as making greater use of assistive technology and software;Accepting e mail claim forms from customers who request this as a reasonable adjustmentExtending the timeframe customers have to submit payment claim forms to 9 months;Accepting employer and support worker signatures via email;Extending Support Worker awards that are coming to an end by 6 months;Adapting the way our assessments are undertaken to support customers who don’t know what support they need and/or where coping strategies are required as part of the Mental Health Support Service;Supporting furloughed employees who need mental health support, by flexing access to the Mental Health Support Service;Providing support for deaf Access to Work customers to maintain work readiness whilst on furlough; andFunding Personal Protective Equipment for Access to Work customers who employ their own support workers. Recognising the challenges Covid-19 has for employers and disabled people, Access to Work has introduced a new more flexible offer to support disabled people to move into and retain employment. The new offer complements support provided by employers and contains a flexible mix of support that can be adapted to meet the needs of new Covid-19 working arrangements. The offer includes:support to work from more than one location,a package of home working support which can be blended with workplace support,mental health wellbeing support for people returning to work after a period of furlough or shielding,travel-to-work support for those who may no longer be able to safely travel by public transport due to the nature of their disability, andprioritising Access to Work applications from disabled people in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Group. The 2019/20 AtW statistics illustrate the increase in support provided by Access to Work, with over 43,000, the highest ever number of people with disabilities and health conditions receiving tailored and flexible support to do their job. Access to Work has continued reaching out to underrepresented groups including those with Mental Health conditions, seeing the highest ever number of people approved for Access to Work, 8,710 people, almost double the number of people compared to the previous year. AtW is helping more people:– In 2019/20 the highest ever number of people received payments – 43,400 up 20% on 18/19.– In 2019/20 over 37,000 people received an award for an Access to Work grant up 25% on 2018/19Expenditure increased to £141.7 million, a new record amount, equating to an 8% increase in real terms expenditure on 18/19. Further information can be found in the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2020/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2020  –

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the cumulative financial effect on disabled people of social security changes since 2010.

Justin Tomlinson: In 2020/21 DWP is forecast to spend £16.2 billion more on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions than was spent in 2010/11. This is an increase of over £8 billion in real terms, using 2019/20 prices.

Child Maintenance Service: Standards

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service and (b) level of consistency that service provides to both parties.

Guy Opperman: As of June 2020, 741,200 children are covered by Child Maintenance Service arrangements; the majority of cases use Direct Pay, where parents arrange maintenance payments between themselves. During the quarter ending June 2020, £238.4 million in child maintenance was paid through the Collect & Pay service, or due to be paid through Direct Pay. When measuring the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service, the Service collects data on the rate of compliance of paying parents using the Collect & Pay service. The most recent quarterly statistics show that 74 per cent of all paying parents due to pay through the Collect & Pay Service cleared some of their child maintenance. At the end of June 2020, 41,800 Paying Parents on the Collect & Pay service had a Deduction from Earnings Order / Request in force. £27.1m was collected from these Paying Parents during the quarter. In the quarter ending June 2020, £2.6m was deducted directly from Paying Parents’ bank accounts. These figures are published quarterly as part of the Child Maintenance Service experimental statistics, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-june-2020-experimental/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-june-2020-experimental The Child Maintenance Service offers an accessible, impartial and secure service for all clients. The Department and Ministers continue to meet stakeholders regularly, and maintain an open dialogue on how to improve the service.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Biodiversity

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the (a) analysis and (b) recommendations of the Global Biodiversity Outlook Report 5, published on 15 September 2020, (i) on biodiversity loss, (ii) on human encroachment and destruction of ecosystems, as increasing the risk of emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases and (iii) on a biodiversity-inclusive One Health transition.

Rebecca Pow: The GBO5 report is being used to inform our work both internationally and domestically. It provides a comprehensive assessment of progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and its findings will be fully considered by all Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the 24th meeting of Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice. This in turn will inform the ongoing development of post 2020 biodiversity targets which are due to be agreed at CBD CoP15 next year. The UK is committed to the adoption of ambitious post 2020 biodiversity targets that will address the destruction of ecosystems as a driver of biodiversity loss and a contribution to the emergence zoonotic diseases. The GBO5 will also be one of a number of reports which will assist in bringing nature to the forefront of discussions at UNFCCC COP26, which we will host in November next year.At home the report points to the need for enhanced implementation. In England, the 25 Year Environment Plan marked a step-change in our ambition, and we are already taking action to implement that. We are putting in place the legislative framework for nature recovery through the Environment Bill, including provisions for legally binding targets on biodiversity and the wider environment. We are increasing funding for nature's recovery, investing in green jobs, woodland expansion and peatland restoration. We are developing a new Environmental Land Management scheme that will reward farmers and land managers for delivering environmental public goods, including thriving plants and wildlife.Our support for international action to address the causes of the current pandemic and minimise future zoonotic disease emergence and spill over, along with the need for the One Health approach to take proper account of environmental health, will be informed by the report and many other scientific reviews.

River Severn: Flood Control

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is holding discussions with (a) farmers and (b) other members of the public on their opinion on the most effective approach to tackling flooding along the River Severn.

Rebecca Pow: The National Farmers Union is a partner on the River Severn Partnership. It has represented farmers in a number of meetings where projects have been discussed, including the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme. The Environment Agency and Shropshire Council have attended events with some local communities, however this has been reduced because of COVID-19 restrictions. Further engagement with all stakeholders and members of the public regarding project options for the River Severn, under the banner of the River Severn Partnership, will commence shortly. The River Severn Partnership website is also due to go live imminently, which will provide further avenues for engagement with both the public and other stakeholders on any project proposals.

River Severn: Flood Control

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the progress of implementing the flood defences along the River Severn.

Rebecca Pow: Progress on key schemes under the banner of the River Severn Partnership remains on course. While the COVID-19 outbreak has caused some minor impacts on delivery, the Environment Agency has developed safe systems of working to ensure that ongoing work on capital projects has continued. Site visits are carried out when required. Meetings with stakeholders have been carried out virtually. The deployment of existing barrier schemes and temporary flood barriers for communities that need them will continue as normal this winter.

Borders: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether construction has begun on the expanded infrastructure required at each Border Control post in Northern Ireland.

Victoria Prentis: The UK Government has been working closely with the Northern Ireland (NI) Executive, and specifically DAERA, on additional or expanded Border Control Post designations at NI points of entry. Work is ongoing at the Points of Entry at Larne, Belfast and Warrenpoint Ports to deliver the facilities needed to undertake sanitary and phytosanitary checks on goods coming into NI from Great Britain (GB) following the end of the transition period. This work has been principally informed by existing trade patterns. The UK Government is in negotiations with the EU about GB-NI movements. Once these negotiations are complete and a clear process for GB-NI has been defined we will communicate this.

Flood Control: Finance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which areas will receive funding from the £170 million announced in July 2020 for shovel-ready flood defence schemes.

Rebecca Pow: In July, £170 million capital funding was announced to accelerate work on shovel-ready flood defence schemes that will begin construction before the end of 21-22. 22 areas across the country will benefit from this immediate boost to jobs supporting the local economy as communities recover from the impact of coronavirus. The schemes, which were shortlisted and approved based on their economic growth and recovery potential, will together better protect more than 10,000 local businesses and safeguard around 100,000 jobs. The following table provides a breakdown of funding by scheme for each area: ProjectFundingSevern Valley Flood Risk Management SchemeUp to £30,000,000Leeds FASUp to £21,000,000Sheffield Upper Don Valley coastal& the Upper Don Catchment NFM Programme£16,000,000Lowestoft Flood Risk Management Project (LFRMP) Tidal Walls and Barrier£43,486,439Hebden Bridge£12,000,000Derby OCR£10,000,000Team Valley£6,000,000Severn Valley NFM and carbon offsetting£5,400,000Lowdham£5,000,000Tenbury WellsUp to £4,895,000Benacre and Kessingland Flood Risk Management Scheme£3,297,660Bude, The CrescentUp to £2,140,000Brighton Marina to River Adur£2,000,000Padiham£2,000,000Lancaster, Caton Road£1,400,000Leeds FAS, Natural Flood Management£1,320,000Hexham£1,000,000Peak District, peatland restoration£960,000East Cowes£500,000Falmouth IUDM inc Tidal Prince of Wales Pier£500,000Penketh & Whittle£480,000Ponteland FAS£450,000

Flood Control: Finance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which areas will receive funding from the £200 million announced in July 2020 for innovative projects to improve flood resilience.

Rebecca Pow: We are investing £200m in a new Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme to pilot new and creative approaches to improve resilience to flooding and coastal change in 25 areas across England. On 9th November 2020, we invited Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) and Coast Protection Authorities (CPAs) to work together with partners to develop their expressions of interest by 15 January 2021. Areas will then be selected based on a range of criteria, including repeated significant flooding in the past. Some initial funding will be used help the areas selected to develop their project proposals into more detailed plans during spring 2021, before the projects formally begin from summer 2021.

Packaging: Recycling

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reforming subsidies for recycling processing plants to incentivise the processing of packaging waste in the UK rather than exporting waste overseas.

Rebecca Pow: The Government does not provide any subsidies to the sector and there has been no formal assessment of subsidies to incentivise the reprocessing and recycling of waste in the UK. The Government has committed to reforming the current packaging producer responsibility scheme (‘the packaging recovery note’ system) whereby re-processors and exporters of packaging waste can issue evidence that packaging waste has been recycled. Together with the devolved administrations, the Government consulted on initial proposals in 2019 and will consult again in 2021. The Government has committed to banning the export of plastic waste to countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Packaging: Recycling

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to reform the Packaging Recovery Note scheme to (a) levy costs on packaging producers and (b) reward recycling.

Rebecca Pow: We committed in our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy to reform the UK's current packaging producer responsibility system and to introduce measures to incentivise packaging producers to make better, more sustainable design decisions and require them to fund the full net costs of managing packaging once it becomes waste, including collection, recycling and disposal costs. In reforming the current system, the Government's aim is to reduce the amount of unnecessary and difficult to recycle packaging and increase the amount and quality of packaging that can be and is recycled. Measures being considered to drive and reward increased recycling through the reformed system include setting recycling targets on producers, and setting producer 'disposal' cost fees based on the design and recyclability of packaging. We are taking new powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to introduce these reforms and to place more responsibility on producers for products at end of life. We plan to undertake a second consultation on these reforms in 2021.

Veterinary Medicine: Drugs

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to meet the potential increase in costs of animal medicines after 1 January 2021.

Victoria Prentis: The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) – the UK regulator of veterinary medicines – charges fees for authorising applications from companies for marketing authorisations for veterinary medicines on a cost recovery basis. From 1 January 2021 the VMD’s fees will continue to apply for each GB and NI veterinary medicine marketing authorisation. To minimise the regulatory costs to industry and avoid any consequential price increases to UK consumers, we continue to explore opportunities to introduce fee reductions wherever possible. The prices of veterinary medicines are a commercial consideration for the private veterinary pharmaceutical industry who manufacture and market these medicines, as well as for retailers. The Government has no influence over the price of UK medicines and there will be no extra costs associated with the Government’s regulation of veterinary medicines.

Veterinary Medicine: Drugs

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government is taking steps to ensure the supply of animal medicines into UK after 1 January 2020 in the potential event of delays at ferry ports; and whether his Department has plans to import animal medicines to the UK from the EU by air after that date.

Victoria Prentis: Defra has well-established mechanisms for dealing with supply issues as and when they arise and works closely with the veterinary pharmaceutical industry to detect potential problems at the earliest point. Veterinary medicines manufacturers and suppliers have prepared for the end of the transition period by establishing appropriate stock levels and working with delivery partners so they are ready to meet the new customs and border requirements. Many veterinary medicines transit into the UK from manufacturing sites in the EU and do so via the short straits. This ferry crossing is vulnerable to disruption and as such pharmaceutical companies have been considering alternative logistics options. Veterinary medicines are classified as Category 1 goods and can access Government secured freight capacity. These contingencies provide assurance that there are ways to facilitate the ongoing flow of veterinary medicines into the UK. In addition, veterinary surgeons will continue to be able to use the Special Import Scheme to apply for alternative medicines to be imported where there is no suitable UK authorised medicine available in the UK. Due to the small order size and immediate need, it is usual that these medicines arrive via air freight.

Environment Agency: Finance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 October 2020 to Question 98265 and to the November 2020 spending review CP 330, whether he plans to ensure that the Environment Agency receives adequate funding to meet its long-term investment scenario of £1 billion per year.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency's Long-Term Investment Scenarios (LTIS) assess what could happen with regard to flood risk over the next 50 years in England, and recommend a long-term annual average investment need over that period for works that are cost-beneficial. LTIS considers total investment from all sources and is not a recommendation for levels of Government spend alone. However, total investment in flood risk management is currently in line with the LTIS optimum investment levels, and will rise above this through the next 6 year flood defences delivery programme beginning in April 2021. At the Budget earlier this year, the Government confirmed it will invest a record £5.2 billion over six years to build around 2,000 new flood defences and better protect 336,000 properties. In addition, up to £170 million will be spent to accelerate work on shovel-ready flood defence schemes that will begin construction by March 2022, along with a £200 million investment in an innovative flood and coastal resilience programme.

Veterinary Medicine: Drugs

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of animal medicines used in the UK are produced in the EU.

Victoria Prentis: 81% of veterinary medicines authorised for use in the UK are produced at manufacturing sites based in the EU.

Pets: Travel

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the wellbeing of rescue animals of the decision by Eurotunnel to limit the number of pets able to travel through its facility; and what discussions his Department has had with Eurotunnel on that issue.

Victoria Prentis: The regulations governing the non-commercial movements of cats, dogs and ferrets stipulate that people cannot bring more than 5 pets per person into the UK unless they are attending or training for a competition, show or sporting event (and written evidence of registration is required). However, dogs imported into the UK for rescue or rehoming must be moved under the commercial 'Balai Directive' regulations, which has different requirements. These regulations place no limits on consignment sizes. Any decisions made by the carriers (such as ferries and trains) to restrict consignment sizes in ways not required by the regulations are commercial decisions to which the Government is not party.Anybody wishing to move animals into the UK during these unprecedented times must plan all journeys carefully, ensuring that the proposed journey is realistic and complies with all relevant regulations and legislation around the movement of animals throughout the animals' entire journey, including welfare in transport, as well as relevant COVID-19 legislation.The end of the Transition Period may open up new opportunities for managing our own commercial and non-commercial import and pet travel arrangements. The Government will be considering our pet travel and import arrangements (including for puppies and kittens) as part of cracking down on puppy smuggling in line with our manifesto commitment.

Total Allowable Catches

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is Government policy in total allowable catches negotiations with the EU on deep sea species that all deep-sea stocks should follow the precautionary approach advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which stocks the Government has assessed to be deep sea species.

Victoria Prentis: The UK Government supports the application of the precautionary approach in setting total allowable catches (TACs) for deep sea stocks. The deep-sea stocks that are subject to a total allowable catch and which will be negotiated with the EU for 2021 and 2022 are : Black scabbardfish (BSF)Alfonsinos (ALF)Roundnose grenadier (RNG)Roughhead grenadier (RHG)Red seabream (SBR)Orange Roughy (ORY)Deep-water catsharks (API)Frilled shark (HXC)Gulper shark (CWO)Portuguese dogfish (CYO)Longnose velvet dogfish (CYP)Black dogfish (CFB)Birdbeak dogfish (DCA)Kitefin shark (SCK)Great lanternshark (ETR)Velvet belly (ETX)

Total Allowable Catches

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which stocks of interest to the UK had Total Allowable Catch limits set above the scientific advice in the last 12 months.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which stocks the UK advocates should have Total Allowable Catch limits set above the scientific advice.

Victoria Prentis: For stocks which the UK has an interest in, and that have assessments advising on their maximum sustainable yield (MSY), 36 (67%) Total Allowable Catches (TACs) were set at MSY out of a total of 54 in 2020. A full list is set out in the “Analysis of the outcomes of the 2019 December EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council & EU-3rd Country Negotiation” report submitted to the Select Committee on the European Union on 1st April 2020. The UK advocates an approach to TACs setting for 2021 founded on the best available scientific advice and which aims to deliver sustainability improvements.

Fishing Catches

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to reply to the letter from fisheries leaders dated 30 October 2020 on concerns relating to catch certificates in preparations for operation from 1 January 2021.

Victoria Prentis: A reply was sent to fisheries leaders, in response to their letter dated 30 October 2020, on 25 November 2020.

Fisheries: Kingston Upon Hull

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking ensure continuity of fishing for the Hull-based fleet in its traditional fishing grounds off Norway, Greenland and the Faroes after 31 December 2020.

Victoria Prentis: The steps taken by my department include, firstly, securing Fisheries Framework Agreements with Norway and the Faroe Islands, which provide the legal basis for annual negotiations on fishing opportunities and access to respective waters; secondly, negotiating Memoranda of Understanding with Greenland and Iceland which will foster the already strong relationships with those fishing nations; and thirdly, negotiating in autumn 2020 as an independent coastal state significant UK fishing opportunities for our fleets across the North East Atlantic.

Home Office

Offences against Children: Internet

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations have resulted in a prosecution relating to extreme and child pornography on social media in the last five years.

Victoria Atkins: The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions, convictions and sentences for offences relating to indecent images of children offences, up to December 2019, available in the ‘Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool, here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888344/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsxThe Government is committed to bringing child sex offenders to justice and has made a significant investment in tackling all forms of CSA, including online, in recent years. Child sexual abuse is prioritised as a national threat to empower police forces to maximise their specialist skills and expertise to investigate these abhorrent crimes and bring offenders to justice.In March this year, in collaboration with Five Country governments (USA, New Zealand, Canada and Australia) and following consultation with technology companies, we formally launched the Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA). The principles include ensuring that existing and new child sexual abuse material doesn’t appear on platforms, preventing the livestreaming of abuse and taking steps to stop grooming and predatory behaviour. Among the companies to endorse the principles are Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Snap, Tik Tok and Roblox.A key aim of this Government is to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. As set out in the Online Harms White Paper, the Government intends to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. The duty of care will ensure companies have appropriate systems in place to deal with harmful content on their services and keep users safe, especially children. Companies will be required to take particularly robust action on tackling online child sexual exploitation and abuse and, as committed, we will publish an interim code of practice for CSEA alongside the full government response.

Human Trafficking: Victim Support Schemes

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether financial support for victims of trafficking has been adjusted for inflation.

Victoria Atkins: The Victim Care Contract (VCC) provides support to individuals who have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), have received a positive reasonable grounds decision and have consented to support. The VCC provides support through accommodation (where needed), financial support and specialist support workers.The rates for financial support are set out in the VCC and Modern Slavery Act 2015: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales. These rates have not been adjusted for inflation, however, they are kept under review. The Home Office is currently working towards a new financial support policy that will focus on individual victims’ needs.

Slavery: Victim Support Schemes

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether potential victims of (a) trafficking or (b) modern slavery who were in the National Referral Mechanism before November 2019 (a) were offered and (b) received subsistence payments.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people in the National Referral Mechanism from April 2019 to March 2020 (a) received and (b) did not receive weekly subsistence payments.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether financial support for victims of trafficking is adjusted for inflation by (a) date and (b) amount of each adjustment.

Victoria Atkins: In reference to your first question, the rates for financial support are set out in the Victim Care Contract (VCC) and Modern Slavery Act 2015: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales. These rates have not been adjusted for inflation, however, they are kept under review. The Home Office is currently working towards a new financial support policy that will focus on individual victims’ needs.In reference to your second question, there is no distinction made between victims of trafficking and modern slavery in relation to support provided by the VCC. The current VCC has been operational since 2015; providing support to individuals who have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), have received a positive reasonable grounds decision and have consented to support. The VCC provides support through accommodation (where needed), financial support and specialist support workers.We are aware that some individuals may have received incorrect financial support payments during their time in VCC support until 30 November 2019. Financial support payments may have been reduced as a result of them receiving alternative sources of income, in a way that was not in line with published policy or with the wording of the VCC. We are working at pace to establish who may have been affected. We will communicate further details on how we plan to rectify this issue in the coming weeks.In reference to your third question, the data requested on how many and what proportion of people in the NRM from April 2019 to March 2020 are receiving subsistence payments does not currently form part of the published NRM statistics. The Home Office published quarterly statistics regarding the NRM which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics.

Hate Crime: Disability

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle recent trends in the level of disability hate crimes in England and Wales.

Victoria Atkins: Hate crime is completely unacceptable, and this Government takes it very seriously. That is why the Government published the Hate Crime Action Plan in 2016 and refreshed it in October 2018.The Action Plan established a public awareness campaign which included examples of disability hate crime to make clear that such acts are completely unacceptable, held two ministerial meetings with disability groups and social media companies to help tackle online abuse of disabled people and provided £193,000 in funding for community projects that directly tackled disability hate crime.

Slavery: Victim Support Schemes

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people in the National Referral Mechanism in receipt of Victim Care Contract support will continue to receive that support during covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Victoria Atkins: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the safety and security of potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery has been our priority. We have continued to work closely with the Prime Contractor for the Victim Care Contract (VCC), The Salvation Army, to ensure individuals get the support they need and we can continue to take new referrals.There remains flexibility in the VCC to address the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions through existing policies, such as the extension request mechanism and Recovery Needs Assessments (RNAs). A minimum of 45 calendar days of VCC ‘move-on’ support will be maintained for confirmed victims following their receipt of a positive Conclusive Grounds (CG) decision and support is then tailored based on the recovery needs of the victims. The extension request process remains in place for individuals in receipt of a negative CG decision who require longer to exit support.Support workers will continue to consider the capacity of local services when planning move-on after a positive or negative Conclusive Grounds decision and will not facilitate move-on unless it is safe and appropriate to do so. RNA decision-making by the Single Competent Authority will also take account of these factors.

Subversion: Australia

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of Australia's foreign influence transparency scheme.

James Brokenshire: As the Prime Minister outlined in his response to the ISC report on Russia, the Home Office is considering like-minded international partners’ Foreign Agent Registration legislation as part of its ongoing work on to develop new legislative proposals to tackle hostile activities by foreign states. This includes the Australian Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme.

Police: Barnet

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the Mayor of London on allocating more police officers to the borough of Barnet.

Kit Malthouse: We are increasing the number of police officers in England and Wales by 20,000 over the next three years. As part of this uplift the Metropolitan Police Service has been allocated 1,369 additional officers in the first year to be recruited by the end of March 2021. At 30 September 2020 the Metropolitan Police Service has already recruited its year one allocation of 1,369 additional officers. The deployment of police officers is an operational decision for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police who should be held accountable bythe Police and Crime Commissioner for London, Sadiq Khan.

Police: Greater London

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional police officers have been allocated to London during the last 12 months.

Kit Malthouse: We are increasing the number of police officers in England and Wales by 20,000 over the next three years.The Metropolitan Police Service was allocated 1,369 additional officers in the first year of the police uplift which covers the period to the end of March 2021.At 30 September 2020 the Metropolitan Police Service has already recruitedits year one allocation of 1,369 additional officers.

Police: Greater London

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase funding for policing in London.

Kit Malthouse: The police funding settlement for 2020/21 sets out the biggest increase in funding for the policing system since 2010.In 2020/21 the Metropolitan Police will receive total cash funding of up to £2939.9 million, this is an increase of up to £193 million compared to 2019/20.In 2020/21 City of London Police will receive total cash funding of up to £67 million, this is an increase of up to £5.6 million compared to 2019/20.The Government has been clear that the police will get the financial support they need to see them through the COVID-19 pandemic, and that they are listening to what the police needs.Future police funding, including details of the 2021/22 Police Funding Settlement, will be announced once the 2020 Spending Review has been concluded.

Catalytic Converters: Theft

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the levels of catalytic converter theft in the last twelve months; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of such theft.

Kit Malthouse: The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) collects data on incidents regarding theft from a vehicle, including details of the items stolen, such as car parts. From April 2019 to March 2020, an estimate of recorded household incidents from the CSEW shows that in 1.6% of incidents of theft from vehicles, a catalytic converter was stolen. The figures are published here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/adhocs/12496catalyticconvertersstoleninincidentsoftheftfromvehiclesyearendingmarch2015toyearendingmarch2020crimesurveyforenglandandwales The Government recognises the negative impact this crime has on industry and the public, causing distress and disruption to victims. We continue to work to understand what more can be done to tackle the theft of catalytic converters. In May I held a meeting with representatives of the motor industry to discuss vehicle crime, including the theft of catalytic converters. In November, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Vehicle Crime hosted a problem-solving workshop on catalytic converter theft to discuss what action can be taken to reduce these thefts.

British Nationality: Coronavirus

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to allow applicants for naturalisation as British citizens to continue to qualify if they have been absent outside the UK for more than three months as a result of covid-related lockdowns or border closures in the country in which they were temporarily residing with the consequence that they were unable to return to the UK before the expiry of the three month time limit; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: There is discretion within the British Nationality Act 1981 to overlook excess absences, which is explained in published guidance. When considering whether to exercise discretion we will take into account time when a person was unable to return to the UK because of a global pandemic.

Visas: Hong Kong

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has modelled the cost of charging different amounts for those seeking a Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa.

Kevin Foster: The cost of Hong Kong BN(O) visas has been set at £180 and £250 for 30 months and 5 years Leave to Remain (LTR) respectively. This takes account of the charging principles set by the Immigration Act 2014 and is based on recovering the anticipated full cost of operating the route, building in uncertainty around volumes.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Robert Largan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to process all applications for the EU Settlement Scheme before 30 June 2021.

Chris Philp: We are fully committed to ensuring that we have the flexible resources required to run an efficient and effective migration system; including the continued delivery of the EU Settlement Scheme until 30 June 2021 and beyond. Administration of the Scheme will not cease on 30 June 2021; that is the deadline that EEA citizens and their family members resident in the UK have to apply for status. There will be some instances were applications made after 30 June 2021 will be accepted and guidance on that will be published in due course. EEA citizens and their family members who have already been granted pre-settled status will be able to make a subsequent application for settled status once they meet the criteria of being resident in the UK for a continuous year five-year period. EEA citizens who hold Scheme status may also bring close family members to join them in the UK after the 30 June 2021 deadline. Such family members will be able to make an application to the Scheme, provided they meet the relevant criteria.

Deportation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people who are being considered for deportation have access to (a) sufficient legal support and (b) contact with family members.

Chris Philp: Those being deported will have been provided with the opportunity to raise claims, prior to their deportation. The UK only ever returns those who the Home Office and, where applicable, the courts are satisfied do not need our protection and have no legal basis to remain in the UK. Any new legal representations made whilst an individual is detained are considered carefully and in accordance with the law.Detained individuals are advised of their right to legal representation, and how they can obtain such representation, within 24 hours of their arrival at an Immigration Removal Centre (IRC).The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) operates free legal advice surgeries in IRCs in England. Individuals who are detained are entitled to receive up to 30 minutes of advice regardless of financial eligibility or the merits of their case. There is no restriction on the number of surgeries an individual may attend. If an individual who is detained requires substantive advice on a matter which is in scope of legal aid, full legal advice can be provided if the statutory legal aid means and merits criteria are met. Following a change of operations in line with Government advice on social distancing, the LAA Detained Duty Advice scheme is currently operating by phone. Detained individuals who wish to access this service are asked to advise centre staff, who will notify the duty solicitor under the scheme. The duty solicitor will contact the individual directly.All individuals in immigration removal centres are provided with a mobile phone and have access to landline telephones, fax machines, email and video calling facilities which can be used to contact legal advisers. Social visits to IRCs and Short-Term Holding Facilities have been paused in light with the latest Government restrictions. Detained individuals are being encouraged to utilise virtual means of social contact including video calling, email and mobile telephone; additional weekly mobile phone credit is being provided to support continued social contact in these unprecedented times.In exceptional circumstances, and for individuals facing imminent removal from the UK face to face legal and social visits can occur where other means of contact (video calling, telephone, email) are not feasible.

Immigration Removal Centres: Coronavirus

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps have been taken to reduce the transmission of covid-19 in immigrant removal centres.

Chris Philp: Immigration Enforcement responded quickly to the risks presented at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and continues to follow the latest guidance from Public Health England (PHE). This has been supported by the High Court, which ruled on 26 March that our approach to detention and Covid-19 was sensible, with the appropriate precautionary measures in place. The safety of detained individuals and our staff are our utmost priority. All immigration removal centres (IRCs) have dedicated health facilities run by doctors and nurses which are managed by the NHS or appropriate providers. Detained individuals arriving at IRCs are medically assessed by a nurse within two hours of their arrival, are offered an appointment with a doctor within 24 hours and have access to medical assistance throughout their detention. Additionally receptions to Heathrow, Gatwick and Yarl’s Wood are offered a Covid-19 test on arrival at the IRC. Everyone entering an IRC spends a minimum of 14 days on a ‘reverse cohorting’ unit; this is dedicated accommodation designed to prevent an asymptomatic individual transmitting the virus to the wider centre population. Reverse cohorting is supported by further measures such as single occupancy rooms in all IRCs and the cessation of social visits. Protective shielding is available to those who are deemed medically high or very high risk. Since Wednesday 21 October 2020, all staff and visitors to IRCs and short term holding facilities are required to wear a face mask, at all times, when undertaking direct contact duties with those detained and when in the main centre or holding facility. The mental health of detained individuals is equally important to physical health; IRC residents are being encouraged to utilise virtual means of social contact including mobile telephone (for which additional phone credit is being provided on a weekly basis), video calling and email. Risk-assessed activities are available in all centres to support mental well-being. We are confident that these collective measures have contributed to minimising the impact of Covid-19 on our estate and keeping those in detention and the staff who work there safe.

Asylum: Penally

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the temporary accommodation site for asylum seekers at Penally training camp in Pembrokeshire will be inspected by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.

Chris Philp: The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has stated his intention to conduct an inspection in this area, but the timings are yet to be confirmed and formally notified to the Department.

Asylum: Penally

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to asylum accommodation provided at the Penally training camp in Pembrokeshire, how many people there are per room; and how many and what types of bed there are in each room.

Chris Philp: There are several different types of accommodation blocks at Penally.The beds in the accommodation blocks consist of either a single bed or a sole use pod within a block. A pod comprises of 2 bunks (4 beds) separated by a lockable cabinet. Only 1 of the 4 beds in a pod is in use at any time.The number of people varies according to block size and type however the numbers in each room is calculated to ensure that it is possible to adhere to COVID rules.

Scotland Office

Brexit: Scotland

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Prime Minister on the effect on Scotland of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Alister Jack: I have regular conversations with ministerial colleagues including the Prime Minister on various issues affecting Scotland including relating to the end of the transition period.

Northern Ireland Office

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what funding remains to be allocated under the New Decade, New Approach commitments.

Mr Robin Walker: The Northern Ireland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of the investment outlined in Annex A of the New Decade, New Approach Agreement (a) has been and (b) remains to be allocated to the health service.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government is providing £2 billion of funding to support implementation of the New Decade, New Approach deal. To date, £553 million has been allocated by the Government. Of this, a substantial proportion will benefit Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland. £115m has been provided so far to resolve the nurses’ pay dispute and deliver pay parity (£30m in 2019-20 and £85m in 2020-21). A further £44m has been allocated this year through NDNA to support public service transformation, with much of this directed towards the health service. £350m was provided in the current financial year to help place the Executive’s finances on a sustainable footing, enabling the Executive to deliver public services such as healthcare. Alongside this, the UK Government has also provided £60m, with £15m allocated to the Executive in 20/21, to deliver the new Northern Ireland Graduate Entry Medical School in Derry/Londonderry, which has begun recruiting its first intake of students. On top of this, a further £2.8bn of additional funding has been provided to the Executive to support the work to tackle Covid-19 this year, including to enable the health service to respond to the crisis. In addition to the financial package, the New Decade, New Approach Deal is accompanied by stringent conditions to deliver a greater level of accountability for public spending, and ensure the new Executive is building sustainable public services. A key element of this will be the establishment of an Independent Fiscal Council (IFC). The UK Government will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to agree terms of reference for the IFC that reflect our joint ambitions for this new institution and get it up and running as soon as possible.

Treasury

Social Services: Finance

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assumptions he has made about available spending for social care in his spending forecast for 2021-22.

Steve Barclay: The Spending Review provided councils with access to over £1bn of new spending power to fund social care in 21/22. This includes £300m of new grant funding for social care and is on top of maintaining £3.5bn of existing social care grants. In addition, we expect to provide councils with over £3bn to help manage the impact of COVID-19 across their services, including in social care. This will support local authorities to maintain care services while keeping up with rising demand and recovering from the impact of COVID-19.

Directors: Coronavirus

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will establish a Directors' income support scheme to support small company Directors during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jesse Norman: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 115585 on 24 November.

Wholesale Trade: Coronavirus

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the ineligibility of wholesalers for business rates relief on the viability of care home supply chains throughout the North of England.

Jesse Norman: No such assessment has been made, but the Government recognises this is a difficult time for businesses. This is why it has spent over £280 billion on economic support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, business grants and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, which wholesalers may be able to benefit from. If businesses are in a difficult position?with regard to?business rates bills, they are encouraged to contact their local authority to discuss what support may be available. The Government is conducting a fundamental review of business rates and will outline plans for future business rates reliefs in the New Year.

Customs: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the volume of declarations that will be made using the Customs Declaration Service between Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the calendar month of January 2021.

Jesse Norman: HMRC are committed to having systems in place to deliver the NI Protocol and facilitate the flow of trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This will include ensuring that electronic declarations for both fiscal and regulatory purposes can be received and processed.The Customs Declaration Service (CDS), the system for Northern Ireland, has been built to handle 60 million declarations per annum. This will be sufficient for movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Trader Support Service will become fully operational for all traders.

Jesse Norman: The Trader Support Service (TSS) was launched on 28 September and will be making declarations on behalf of traders from 1 January. The Trader Support Service will be able to help all traders, regardless of size and at no additional cost, to get their businesses ready for changes to trade due to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Customs: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC has completed work on the final version of the Customs Declaration Service for use for trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain from 1 January 2021.

Jesse Norman: The changes required on the Customs Declaration Service to facilitate Northern Ireland’s trade with Great Britain and the Rest of the World have been in the trade test environment since 15 October and are on track to be implemented in December.

Protective Clothing: VAT

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the temporary VAT exemption on personal protective equipment has not been extended beyond 31 October 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The temporary relief was designed to relieve the burden of VAT on the price of purchasing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) used for protection from coronavirus by front line workers. Since then, the Department of Health and Social Care has stabilised the UK PPE supply chain and by the end of November, a four month stockpile of all COVID-critical PPE will be in place, with a tremendous contribution from UK manufacturers. The temporary zero-rate of VAT on PPE is therefore no longer required and ended on 31 October 2020 as planned.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Alex Norris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that employers are aware that clinically extremely vulnerable people are eligible for the extended furlough scheme if they are unable to work from home and their workplace is not covid-secure.

Jesse Norman: Those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, or at the highest risk of severe illness from coronavirus and following public health guidance, are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, if the employer making the claim and the relevant employee meet the eligibility criteria. Furloughed employees must have been employed on 30 October and HMRC must have received an RTI submission between 20 March and 30 October notifying payment in respect of that employee. An employer does not need to be facing a wider reduction in demand or be closed in order to be eligible to claim for these employees. It is for the employer to decide whether to offer to furlough an employee. Full eligibility criteria for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is published at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme, and guidance on protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19, including at work, is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19.

Off-payroll Working: Coronavirus

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the potential effect of the introduction of off-payroll legislation on the economic recovery of businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jesse Norman: The Government delayed the implementation of the reform to the off-payroll working rules to 6 April 2021 as part of the additional support provided for businesses and individuals to deal with the economic impacts of COVID-19. HMRC have used the time afforded by delaying the reform to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the education and support package offered during 2019/20. This has informed the design of an enhanced programme of targeted support for all businesses, public bodies and charities affected by the reform ahead of implementation in April 2021. This includes topic-based webinars and workshops, as well as targeted one-to-one calls with affected businesses. This is further supported by updated off-payroll guidance, online learning and attendance at stakeholder events. The reform of the off-payroll working rules is important in addressing the unfairness of non-compliance with the existing rules and protects against significant revenue being lost each year as a result. At Budget 2020, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimated the total yield from the off-payroll reform to be about £4.1 billion by 2024/25.

Sailing Boats: EU Countries

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how long British citizens will be able to spend on a yacht in EU waters after the end of the transition period.

Jesse Norman: The management of EU import and export procedures is the responsibility of the customs authorities of the EU Member States concerned. It is important that businesses and individuals confirm the processes at their intended port of arrival and any conditions or procedures that may apply.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to publish the names of the companies that received support under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in (a) tranche one up to December 2020 and (b) tranche two for new claims from December 2020.

Jesse Norman: In line with the published direction, as part of HMRC’s commitment to transparency and to deter fraudulent claims, HMRC will publish information about employers who claim under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for periods starting on or after 1 December. This will not cover employer details for use of the CJRS prior to December. The publication of information will be made in line with data protection law.

Sailing Boats: VAT

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Returned Goods Relief, whether leisure yachts that have paid VAT in the EU will retain EU VAT registration after the transition period.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what economic impact assessment he has made of the Returned Goods Relief scheme on (a) UK marinas and (b) yachting businesses after the end of the transition period.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Returned Goods Relief to all yachts returning to the UK until March 2024, regardless of the time they have spent outside of British waters.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made  for the implications of his policies of the assessment of the current Returned Goods Relief proposals by the Cruising Association’s Regulations & Technical Services group, that they would result in significant adverse financial consequences for many UK boatowners.

Jesse Norman: At the end of the Transition Period (TP), goods moving into Great Britain (GB) from the EU will be subject to customs duties including import VAT, unless a relief is available. Returned Goods Relief (RGR) will be available for goods returning within three years, including pleasure craft, on which UK or EU VAT has been paid. The Government has recognised the challenges faced by owners of goods in returning their possession to GB before the end of the TP in order to qualify for RGR. Accordingly there will be a twelve month period of grace allowing goods located in the EU at the end of the TP that return in 2021 to qualify for RGR regardless of when they left the UK, provided the other conditions for relief are met.

Tax Avoidance

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken in Q4 2020 against promoters and operators of schemes that are now subject to the Loan Charge.

Jesse Norman: The Government and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are determined to continue to tackle promoters and operators of tax avoidance schemes. This includes challenging the entities and individuals who promote disguised remuneration loan schemes. On 19 March 2020, HMRC published their strategy for tackling promoters of tax avoidance schemes. The strategy sets out HMRC’s work to date and outlines how HMRC will continue to take robust actions against promoters of tax avoidance. The Promoter Strategy is available on GOV.UK. HMRC consulted on a package of measures to tackle promoters of tax avoidance schemes over Summer 2020. On 12 November 2020, the Government announced further proposals to tackle promoters, on which it will consult in Spring.On 26 November 2020 HMRC and the Advertising Standards Authority issued a joint Notice, setting out what promoters must and must not include on their websites to ensure their advertising is not misleading.

Revenue and Customs: Tax Avoidance

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many contractors have worked for HMRC whilst using disguised remuneration schemes.

Jesse Norman: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are aware of 15 contractors who have used disguised remuneration (DR) schemes while engaged either by the department or by Revenue & Customs Digital Technology Services (RCDTS). In each of the cases, the contractors were engaged via an agency or a company providing a service. HMRC do not engage in, or enter into, disguised remuneration schemes. It is possible for a contractor providing services to HMRC to use a disguised remuneration scheme without the department’s knowledge or participation. Where HMRC become aware of a contractor who is using a disguised remuneration scheme, they take robust compliance action, including the immediate termination of the engagement. Any contractor identified in the course of HMRC’s compliance work as a scheme user would be investigated in the same way as any other contractor.

Overseas Aid

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on reinstating the UK's commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on overseas aid.

Steve Barclay: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has agreed with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs that the Government intends to return to the 0.7% target when the fiscal situation allows.

Children: Day Care

Helen Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reallocate unspent funding from the tax-free childcare scheme to local authorities.

Steve Barclay: The Government is already utilising the underspend through the easements for TFC, 30 hours and Tax Credits childcare support offers. To support parents through the pandemic, temporary measures have been put in place to restore entitlement to parents in receipt of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) or Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) who would normally be eligible for the Government’s childcare offers.Any working parent in receipt of the Coronavirus Job Retention (or “furlough”) Scheme or Self-Employment Income Support Scheme usually eligible for TFC or 30 hours free childcare will temporarily remain eligible if they fall below the minimum income requirement due to Covid-19. Regulations have also been laid to temporarily maintain eligibility for TFC and 30 hours free childcare for critical worker parents who would normally earn less than the £100k maximum income threshold for the schemes, but due to Covid-19 will exceed this in the 2020-21 tax year. The Chancellor has been considering spending priorities in the round at the Spending Review. As a result of the Spending Review, local authorities in England are expected to receive over £3bn of additional support for Covid pressures next year. This is in addition to over £7 billion the Government has already provided since March to local authorities to help them maintain vital public services and support vulnerable people through the pandemic. In March the Government also provided local authorities with an additional £500m to support the most vulnerable people in our society, who may struggle to meet their council tax payments over the coming year. This has allowed local authorities to provide further reductions in Council Tax bills of £150 to all recipients of working age local council tax support (LCTS) during the financial year 2020-21.

Tax Avoidance

Richard Thomson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of people in settlement discussions with HMRC on the Loan Charge have to date reached settlement.

Jesse Norman: Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are assuring disguised remuneration settlement data received to date. This includes data on those taxpayers who were unable to meet the 30 September settlement deadline for reasons beyond their control who are continuing settlement discussions. Information on settlements will be included in HMRC’s report to Parliament on the implementation of the independent Loan Charge Review, due before the end of the year. At the time of the independent review of the Loan Charge, about 12,000 employers and individuals still had the opportunity to keep clear of the Loan Charge by concluding settlement, having provided all the relevant information to HMRC by 5 April 2019. Indications are that as at 2 October about 60 per cent of these have either settled, informed HMRC that they had instead decided to report and pay the Loan Charge, or have been taken out of scope of the Loan Charge following the Government’s changes in response to the independent review.

Tax Avoidance

Richard Thomson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking in relation to (a) people and (b) companies that promoted payroll loan schemes.

Jesse Norman: The Government and HMRC are determined to continue to tackle promoters of tax avoidance schemes. This includes challenging the entities and individuals who promote disguised remuneration loan schemes. On 19 March 2020, HMRC published their strategy for tackling promoters of tax avoidance schemes. The strategy sets out HMRC’s work to date and outlines how HMRC will continue to take robust action against promoters of tax avoidance. The Promoter Strategy is available on GOV.UK.

Revenue and Customs: Tax Avoidance

Richard Thomson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many contractors worked for HMRC while using disguised remuneration schemes.

Jesse Norman: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are aware of 15 contractors who have used disguised remuneration (DR) schemes while engaged either by the department or by Revenue & Customs Digital Technology Services (RCDTS). In each of the cases, the contractors were engaged via an agency or a company providing a service. HMRC do not engage in, or enter into, disguised remuneration schemes. It is possible for a contractor providing services to HMRC to use a disguised remuneration scheme without the department’s knowledge or participation. Where HMRC become aware of a contractor who is using a disguised remuneration scheme, they take robust compliance action, including the immediate termination of the engagement. Any contractor identified in the course of HMRC’s compliance work as a scheme user would be investigated in the same way as any other contractor.

Tax Avoidance

Richard Thomson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he plans to give to people who experienced mis-selling of schemes that are now subject to the Loan Charge.

Jesse Norman: While the Government sympathises with anyone who believes they were misled into using a disguised remuneration (DR) scheme, it is an individual’s responsibility to ensure the accuracy of their tax return and to understand the consequences of their decisions. It remains right that the Government takes action to tackle tax avoidance, which is unfair to the vast majority of taxpayers who pay the correct tax. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have been clear on their commitment to support all taxpayers who may need help to pay their Loan Charge liabilities. Where a taxpayer cannot afford to pay in full on time, HMRC will seek to agree payment by instalments with them. The payment plan agreed will be based on what the taxpayer can afford and there is no upper limit over how long HMRC can potentially spread payments. HMRC have published settlement terms for taxpayers subject to the Loan Charge. These settlement terms are available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disguised-remuneration-settlement-terms-2020/disguised-remuneration-settlement-terms-2020.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has received representations on (a) reported higher levels of women than men being furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and (b) the potential effect of that matter on the gender pay gap.

Jesse Norman: So far, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has helped 1.2 million employers across the UK furlough 9.6 million jobs, protecting people’s livelihoods. The latest data shows that across the UK, 1.6 million female employees were furloughed at the end of August and 1.5 million male employees. This data is publicly available on GOV.UK. When designing the CJRS and subsequent reforms, the Government undertook an analysis of how the policies were likely to affect individuals with protected characteristics in line with Public Sector Equality Duties. This was done according to internal procedural requirements for ensuring that equalities considerations inform decisions taken by ministers. HM Treasury and HMRC are undertaking an evaluation that will assess the delivery and impact of the CJRS. The Government intends to publish the CJRS evaluation plan in December 2020 and an evaluation report by the end of 2021.

Animal Housing: VAT

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing VAT relief for pet boarding businesses.

Jesse Norman: VAT is a tax on consumption and the standard rate of 20 per cent applies to most goods and services, including pet boarding kennels. Introducing further reliefs would have a significant cost to the Exchequer. The Government has no plans to review the VAT treatment of pet boarding kennels at this time.

Self-employed: Coronavirus

Emma Hardy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support newly self-employed people during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown period.

Jesse Norman: The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include the newly self-employed in 2019-20 in the original Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), namely that HM Revenue and Customs did not have access to their self-assessment returns in order to verify their eligibility, still remain. However, the SEISS continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of support for the self-employed. Newly self-employed individuals who are ineligible for the SEISS Grant Extension may still be eligible for other elements of the support available. The Universal Credit standard allowance has been temporarily increased for 2020-21 and the Minimum Income Floor relaxed for the duration of the crisis, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have fallen significantly, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this, they may also have access to other elements of the package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme

Kim Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance he plans to issue to banks for companies wanting to apply for an extension to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme which need a higher level of finance than they required in March 2020.

John Glen: The Government launched the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) to ensure that the smallest businesses could access loans of up to £50,000 in a matter of just days. As of 15 November, the scheme had supported nearly 1.4 million businesses with facilities totaling over £42 billion.On 2 November, the Government adjusted the BBLS rules to allow those businesses who have borrowed less than their maximum (i.e. the lower of £50,000 or 25% of their turnover) to top-up their existing loan to this maximum. Businesses will be able to make use of this option once. We understand that some businesses did not anticipate the disruption to their business from the pandemic would go on for this long. This change will ensure that they are able to benefit from the loan scheme as intended. Those businesses that require finance of over £50,000 should discuss alternative options with their lenders, including the possibility of refinancing into a loan under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. The Government has also announced the extension of the application deadline for all Covid-19 business loan schemes, including BBLS to 31 January 2021. This extension ensures that businesses have more time to make loan applications, supporting them through the pandemic.

Bank of England: Carbon Emissions

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Bank of England on adding rapid decarbonisation objectives to its mandate; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: In March, as part of the Remit and Recommendations letter for the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee, the Chancellor recommended that the Committee should continue to regard risks from climate change as relevant to its primary and secondary objectives.The Government remains committed to including new and ambitious recommendations to the regulators, including the Prudential Regulatory Authority, about the government’s NetZero objectives, as set out in the 2019 Green Finance Strategy. We plan to issue remit letters at the next opportunity to allow the government to reiterate its expectations for the regulators, ahead of the UK’s hosting of the COP26 summit in November 2021.Finally, on 9 November, the Chancellor delivered a statement to the House, outlining the Government’s plans for financial services, including new proposals to support sustainable financial flows and extend the UK’s global leadership in green finance ahead of hosting COP26.

Pensions: Uprating

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed changes to the formula for calculating the Retail Price Index, set out in his Department's response to the Consultation on the Reform of RPI Methodology, on the remuneration of members of defined benefits pension schemes.

John Glen: On 25 November, the Government and UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) published their response to the consultation on the timing of reform to the Retail Prices Index (RPI). Owing to shortcomings in its calculation, UKSA intends to bring the methods and data sources of the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) into RPI.The Government and UKSA are mindful of the widespread use of RPI in the economy, and, as such, sought views in the consultation on the broader impacts of reform. The Government and UKSA received approximately 550 responses from members of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes whose benefits are linked to RPI.It is apparent that some DB pension scheme members will be affected by UKSA’s reform of RPI. The effect of reform on the members of such schemes will depend on whether their benefits are linked to RPI under the trust deed and rules of the scheme.The announcement in the response by the Chancellor and Authority Chair means that reform will not be implemented before 2030. The Government keeps the occupational pensions system under review and will continue to do so.For further information please see the consultation response at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/a-consultation-on-the-reform-to-retail-prices-index-rpi-methodology.

Plastics: Taxation

Ian Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of including bio-based and compostable bioplastics in the scope of the plastic packaging tax on levels of bio-based plastic packaging; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what evidence basis his Department used to inform the decision to include compostable material in the forthcoming plastic tax.

Kemi Badenoch: On 12 November, the Government published the summary of responses to the recent consultation on the detailed design and implementation of the Plastic Packaging Tax. This included confirming the consultation proposal to include compostable and bio-based plastic packaging in the scope of the tax. As set out in the summary of responses to the consultation, the Government believes that alternative plastics can play a role in addressing plastic waste if used in the right circumstances. However, further evidence is needed on the impact of widespread adoption of such materials. This includes the interaction with current waste management as noted in the 2019 call for evidence on standards for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics. It is therefore right to include them within scope of the tax at this stage. As part of the Bioeconomy Strategy, the Government is working with industry and the research community to better understand the impact of using bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics. Following the conclusion of the Bioeconomy Strategy, the Government will consider further the treatment of these plastics in relation to Plastic Packaging Tax. The Government carefully considered the impacts of the tax when making the decisions set out in the summary of responses to the consultation. More information on impacts is available in the Tax Information and Impact Note - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-a-new-plastic-packaging-tax/introduction-of-a-new-plastic-packaging-tax

Manufacturing Industries: Coronavirus

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a Government-backed equity fund to help the recapitalisation of supply chain companies in the (a) aerospace and (b) wider manufacturing sector.

Kemi Badenoch: The Government is committed to supporting businesses access the finance they need to achieve their full growth potential. For some companies, further debt may not be the right answer, and the private sector should be the first port of call for any business seeking new equity investment. The aerospace sector and its aviation customers are being supported with over £9 billion support through the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, grants for research and development, loan guarantees and support for aerospace exports. The manufacturing sector has been well supported in its ability to access finance through the government loan schemes throughout the current pandemic period. Manufacturing firms have had over 7,000 CBILS loans worth over £2bn and over 74,000 BBLS loans worth over £2.3bn, bringing the total amount received through CBILS and BBLS to £4.4bn to over 80,000 manufacturing firms. These figures indicate that manufacturing firms have received a higher proportion of lending through the schemes relative to their share of the UK SME business population.The Government will keep policy under review, and rigorously test any proposals for their value for money.

Beer: Excise Duties

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he make it his policy to reduce the rate of beer duty.

Kemi Badenoch: The Government values the important contribution made by the pubs and beer sector. For that reason, the Government cut or froze beer duty at six of the last seven Budgets, meaning that beer duty is now at its lowest level for 30 years in real terms. Cuts and freezes in alcohol duties since 2013 have cost the Treasury £6.2 billion in revenue, and the cost of any further cuts or freezes must be balanced against the wider fiscal context and requests for new spending. However, the Government keeps all taxes under review. Announcements about duty rates will be made in the usual way at the next Budget.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Procurement

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many covid-19 procurement contracts were awarded by his Department retrospectively after work had already been carried out.

Mr John Whittingdale: No COVID-19 contracts were awarded by the Department retrospectively after work had already been carried out.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Procurement

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 116638 on Government Departments: Procurement, what steps he is taking to (a) identify and (b) tackle potential (i) conflicts of interest and (ii) bias in his Department's procurement process.

Mr John Whittingdale: The department takes all possible steps to identify and tackle conflict of interest and potential bias, including the embedment of fair and open tender processes, overseen by multiple officials from different areas of the department. Other measures include regular review of our policies, ensuring they are relevant to current contexts and adhere to central government guidelines.

Lord Alfred Douglas

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2020 to Question 114761, if he will release ownership of the original manuscript of the work of Lord Alfred Douglas entitled In Excelsis, written during his time in jail and held in the Public Records Office to the estate of the late Lord Alfred Douglas.

Mr John Whittingdale: The notebook which contains “In Excelsis” was issued by the Governor of Wormwood Scrubs prison to Lord Alfred Douglas while he was in custody there in 1924. As such the notebook was then, and is now, property of the Crown. As a Public Record in line with the provisions of the Public Records Act 1958, it is permanently preserved as a public record at The National Archives and it would not be appropriate to de-accession it.

Youth Investment Fund

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government plans to allocate the £500 million funding from the Youth Investment Fund to local authorities.

Mr John Whittingdale: Government recognises the significant impact of Covid-19 on young people, particularly the most vulnerable, and on the youth services that support them. A £16.5m Youth Covid-19 Support Fund has been announced which will protect the immediate future of grassroots and national youth organisations across the country. The funding will be allocated from the Government’s unprecedented £750 million package of support which is benefiting tens of thousands of frontline charities, so they can continue their vital work. More than £60 million of this package has already been provided to organisations working with vulnerable children and young people. The Youth Investment Fund remains a manifesto commitment for transformative levelling up across the country over the course of the parliament. In the recent announced Spending Review £30m of this was committed as capital investment for 2021-22. This will provide a transformational investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture. Further details of the timetable for allocation will be announced in due course.

Coronavirus: Holiday Accommodation

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the decision by booking.com, Expedia and other providers to continue to promote bookings for holiday accommodation in England during the period covered by the covid-19 restrictions; and if he will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: Under the current national restrictions, accommodation providers must close, whether in: a hotel, hostel, B&B, holiday apartment, home, cottage or bungalow, campsite, caravan park or boarding house, canal boat or any other vessel. However, there are a limited number of exemptions to this set out in law. As such, accommodation providers have not been required to stop advertising their services. When travel is necessary and staying in hotels and other guest accommodation required, we expect people to act responsibly, in line with government regulations and guidance. Accommodation providers should take all reasonable steps to encourage guests to adhere to government restrictions, including informing guests of restrictions when taking bookings and communicating to all customers, including those with existing bookings, reminding them not to travel unless it is essential (such as for work purposes or attending a funeral). Accommodation providers should not intentionally facilitate bookings that do not adhere to government restrictions. Those not complying with these responsibilities may be at risk of the premises being closed.

Exercise: Congleton

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether group exercise classes will be permitted to take place indoors from the end of the November 2020 lockdown period in Congleton constituency provided that social distancing is enforced.

Nigel Huddleston: As announced on Thursday 26 November, Cheshire will be placed into Tier 2 of coronavirus restrictions when the national lockdown ends on 2 December. Under Tier 2 you must not socialise with anyone you do not live with or who is not in your support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place. Organised outdoor sport, and physical activity and exercise classes can continue. However, organised indoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes will only be permitted if it is possible for people to avoid mixing with people they do not live with (or share a support bubble with). There are exceptions for indoor disability sport, sport for educational purposes and supervised sport and physical activity for under-18s, which can take place with larger groups mixing. Further guidance will be published shortly.

Fairgrounds: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will introduce a grant specifically to (a) support and (b) reimburse lost income for for designed to support showmen during the covid-19 outbreak.

Nigel Huddleston: Government has introduced a number of support measures to support the tourism and outdoor events sector through COVID-19, which funfair businesses and showmen can access. In response to the current national restrictions, the Chancellor has confirmed how the government will support businesses and individuals during this period. For instance, self-employed workers in the funfairs industry can explore the extended Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. Further to this, the Additional Restrictions Grant discretionary fund will allow Local Authorities to help businesses more broadly. It supports businesses that are not covered by other grant schemes, such as the Local Restrictions Support Grant, or where additional funding is needed. Local Authorities have the freedom to determine the eligibility criteria for this grant scheme. However, we expect the funding to help those businesses which - while not legally forced to close - are nonetheless severely impacted by the restrictions.We recognise that Covid-19 has significantly impacted the culture sector and that these are extremely difficult times for organisations such as travelling funfairs and showmen. We continue to meet with representatives of the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain to assess how we can most effectively support the industry through this period.

Fairgrounds: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will issue guidance to local authorities on (a) how and (b) when travelling fairgrounds can re-open during the covid-19 outbreak.

Nigel Huddleston: Whilst outdoor events are not currently able to proceed due to national restrictions, the guidance on which we have worked with the Events Industry Forum will support outdoor events to operate safely when we move to the local tier system on 2 December. From 2 December, as set out in the COVID Winter Plan we will return to a tiered approach to COVID-19 restrictions. Funfairs and fairgrounds - which will be permitted to reopen in all three tiers as they were prior to this period of national restrictions - will need to go through the normal process of requesting permission and any relevant licences from the relevant authority and have the relevant health and safety protocols in place, including a Covid-19 risk assessment. Local Authorities are responsible for deciding whether to permit outdoor events in their area. Decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis, with consideration given to both the risks and the mitigations in place. In the government's Covid-19 Secure guidance for the Visitor Economy, we have provided guidance for Local Authorities on how to assess applications for outdoor events and how Local Authorities should support event organisers to hold outdoor events safely. We will continue to work closely with Local Authorities and the sector to get outdoor events running safely and successfully once they are permitted. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) holds regular engagement calls with local government sector groups to highlight significant policy updates and holds regular Ministerial calls with local authority leaders and chief executives.

Rugby: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the (a) Barnett formula funding for Wales deriving from the Sport Winter Survival Package and (b) the projected £35 million loss that Welsh Rugby Union has estimated this financial year, whether he has plans to provide further financial support for Welsh Rugby Union.

Nigel Huddleston: The Barnett formula will apply in the normal way for the devolved administrations, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy, and it will be for the Welsh Government to decide how to allocate any additional funding it receives as a result.

Sports: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Welsh Government's covid-19 funding guarantee will be revised as a result of the £300 million Sports Winter Survival Package fund for sports in England.

Nigel Huddleston: The devolved administrations have been provided with an upfront guarantee this year of £16 billion above their Spring Budget 2020 funding to support their response to Covid-19. There are no plans to revise the Welsh Government's covid-19 funding guarantee as a result of the £300 million Sports Winter Survival Package fund for sports in England.

Sports: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what level of Barnett consequential funding the Welsh Government will receive in respect to the Sports Winter Survival Package for England.

Nigel Huddleston: The Barnett formula will apply in the normal way for the devolved administrations, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.

Gambling: Reviews

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which stakeholders he has met with to discuss the gambling review since September 2020.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has met families and people who have been harmed by gambling ahead of the gambling review.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has met people who have been bereaved due to gambling addiction ahead of the gambling review.

Nigel Huddleston: The Secretary of State and I have met a number of stakeholder groups ahead of the Gambling Act Review. This includes a meeting with the Gambling Commission’s Interim Experts by Experience forum, a group of people who have suffered a wide range of gambling harms, including recovering gambling addicts, family and partners of addicts, and those who have lost children to gambling suicides. The Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage also met the founders of Gambling With Lives in the summer. Ministers have additionally met parliamentary groups such as the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, the Parliamentary All-Party Betting & Gaming Group, and Peers for Gambling Reform, as well as with representatives of the gambling industry. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the government’s website at: https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?content_store_document_type=transparency&organisations%5B%5D=department-for-digital-culture-media-sport.The government committed to a review of the Gambling Act 2005 in the 2019 manifesto to ensure that it is fit for the digital age and further details will be announced in due course, including on how we will gather evidence and consult.

Football Association Premier League

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his response on fan engagement to the petition on Premier League process transparency presented by the hon Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central on 9 September 2020, Official Report, col 737, what his policy is on the (a) level and (b) type of engagement with the Premier League that should be available for fans who perceive potential discrimination in the treatment of their clubs by the Premier League.

Nigel Huddleston: Football clubs are the heart of local communities, they have unique social value and many possess a great history. It is vital they are protected and fans’ voices heard. The Premier League has clear procedures for member clubs following their decision making processes. Fans can contact the Independent Football Ombudsman (IFO) which was created in July 2008 by the football authorities, including the Premier League, with the agreement of the Government. The IFO was established to receive and adjudicate on complaints which have failed to be resolved by football clubs or the football authorities.

Motor Sports: Saudi Arabia

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to hold discussions with British motorsport organisations on their commitments to women’s rights in advance of the 2021 Saudi Arabian grand prix.

Nigel Huddleston: Participation in international sports events is a matter for the relevant international sports federations, and the national representatives to these federations.Our sport strategy “Sporting Future” sets out our commitment to increasing the participation of women in all aspects of sport and physical activity, whether taking part, working or volunteering. Sport England provides support to organisations, including the National Governing Bodies, on how to increase the participation of women.The UK has consistently called for women in Saudi Arabia to be able to participate fully in society. We welcome positive developments, including reforms to the guardianship system. The World Bank's "Women, Business, and the Law 2020" report recognises Saudi Arabia's efforts to advance women's economic participation within the Kingdom. However, women's rights still fall short of international standards. We will continue to raise the issue with Saudi Arabia, and work to promote and support further progress.

Culture Recovery Fund

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the availability of the culture recovery fund to organisations that were previously in receipt of public funds.

Caroline Dinenage: It has been agreed that in regards to public funds, such as the Job Retention Scheme, and the Culture Recovery Fund, organisations may apply for both, although of course organisations should not claim for the same costs through a public funding scheme and the Culture Recovery Fund. Where organisations have questions about this interaction they should speak to their relevant arms length body - Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England or the British Film Institute.

Museums and Galleries: West Midlands

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of public funding for museums in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry during the covid-19 outbreak.

Caroline Dinenage: Culture and heritage are at the heart of communities across the country, enriching the lives of millions. The government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) was designed to support cultural assets of international, national and regional importance through the pandemic, including supporting the levelling up agenda by preventing the loss of valuable cultural fabric from our towns and regions. The CRF builds on a wide variety of funding already available, including the Job Retention Scheme; business rates holiday for leisure businesses; a reduction in VAT from 20% to 5% for tourism and hospitality firms and the Bounce Back Loans scheme, and follows £200 million of emergency funding from DCMS arms’ length bodies for culture and heritage earlier in the year.Through the CRF the West Midlands has so far been awarded £11,985,651 in revenue grants for museums, 24% of the total allocated to museums in England. 91% of applications in the West Midlands were awarded funding (20 out of 22). One museum in Coventry applied and is included in this total: this museum was awarded £15,800. The initial rounds of the CRF were designed to support organisations at risk of failure by March 2021, and we are working closely with the Arm's Length Bodies delivering the CRF to ensure we understand the sector's ongoing needs beyond this date. We will continue to make decisions about how best to deploy the remaining CRF in any future rounds.

Ice Skating: Coronavirus

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons indoor skating rinks, including those used for Olympic training, will be required to close under tier 3 covid-19 restrictions while other indoor sports facilities can stay open.

Nigel Huddleston: Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we made sure that people could exercise at least once a day even during the height of the first period of enhanced national restrictions and why we opened up grassroots sport and leisure facilities as soon as it was safe to do so.As the Prime Minister said on 23 November national restrictions will end on Wednesday 2 December, and gyms and sport facilities will reopen across all tiers. Outdoor skating rinks can stay open across all tiers and indoor skating rinks can open in Tiers 1 and 2. Unfortunately in Tier 3 areas indoor skating rinks will remain closed, because these areas have a very high or rapidly rising level of infections, so tighter restrictions will be in place. However, elite athletes will still be able to access relevant facilities.

Sportsgrounds: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the evidence basis is for his Department's decision to allow 4000 spectators at sporting events in tier 1 areas after the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown.

Nigel Huddleston: The safety and security of players and spectators remains of paramount importance and we will continue to be led by wider public health guidance. These capacity limits have been agreed by the Government with SGSA and PHE as a maximum capacity for spectators, in light of the updated Covid Tiering system.We want fans back in stadia as quickly as is safe to do so, and believe that now we can permit these still extremely limited numbers of fans to attend matches. A series of successful pilot events demonstrated the ability of the sector to follow covid secure guidance. We will be updating our guidance to the sector, and the SGSA’s SG02 guidance sets out explicit guidance on how safe socially distanced capacities can be maintained.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Fay Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is competition within the market for rural broadband.

Matt Warman: In 2018, the Government published the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR), which set out the Government’s strategy to deliver nationwide gigabit capable broadbandas soon as possible, including in rural areas, by encouraging greater network competition and commercial investment.The strategy focuses on:Making the cost of deploying gigabit capable networks as low as possible by addressing barriers to deployment, which increase costs and cause delays.Supporting market entry and expansion by alternative network operators through easy access to Openreach’s ducts and poles, complemented by access to other utility infrastructure.Stable and long-term regulation that encourages competitive network investment.Supporting the timely switchover to new gigabit capable broadband networks.The Government has recognised that not all areas of the country, particularly those in the most rural and remote areas, are likely to benefit from network competition and receivegigabit capable broadband through private investment alone, which is why we have committed to invest £5 billion in supporting deployment in these areas. The use of this funding will encourage a variety of rural broadband providers to deploy gigabit networks.

Women and Equalities

Schools: Bullying

Ian Lavery: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, for what reason the Anti-bullying grant fund has not been extended beyond March 2020; and if she will allocate additional funding to support the extensions of that fund.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, for what reason the Government did not extend the Anti-bullying grant fund beyond March 2020.

Kemi Badenoch: We want to ensure that all children, whoever they are, are kept safe in schools. Since 2016, we have invested £4m to support schools in preventing and addressing homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, reaching 2,250 schools in England. This programme concluded in March 2020 and we are currently evaluating it.In our 2019 Manifesto, we made clear our commitment to continuing to help teachers tackle bullying, including homophobic bullying, and the Government is continuing to fund anti-bullying projects. The Department for Education announced £750k of funding in June for three charitable organisations, including a project for victims of hate-related bullying.The Department for Education is also rolling out new inclusive statutory Relationships Education in all primary schools and Relationships and Sex Education in all secondary schools, so that children leave school prepared for life in modern, diverse, Britain.